The Rebellion
by Leville
Summary: Ross Warren was just a first year when the Carrows chained him up in the dungeon. Now he's in his seventh year with one goal: Become an Auror. But something is desperately wrong at Hogwarts. Ross is having strange dreams and he's sure there is a connection. Another battle is coming and it will be Ross' chance to prove that he has what it takes to be an Auror. Slight Neville/Luna
1. Prologue to Ch2

**A/N. **

**Hi all. I wrote this story about a year and a half ago. I started posting it on another site. And sadly, said site went to crap and made posting stories impossible. So my readers never got to read the ending of this and I promised I'd put it here. It's not perfect; you can tell when I got the news that the site was going down the toilet and tried to finish it quickly. I've been trying to fix this for months but I just don't have time. So hopefully you can just enjoy it for what it is!**

**Some background info: This was kind of a "spin off" to a couple Neville/Luna stories I wrote (they're not necessary to understand this story) so, please note that this is alternate universe. Neville/Luna are recently married but they aren't the major focus of this story.**

**This is about my original character, Ross Warren. I based his character on the unnamed first-year mentioned Deathly Hallows.**

**This story takes place in Ross' seventh-year.  
**

* * *

**Prologue: **

So despite all odds, surviving all different kinds of deadly obstacles, including but not limited to Death Eaters, war, Dumbledore's Army practices, and girl trouble, I, Ross Warren, have managed to make it through six-years at Hogwarts in once piece.

Hallelujah, praise Merlin! It's a miracle!

What? You don't know who I am?

Sigh. It kills me, because you _have_ heard of me. I'm just not important enough to be known by name. Well, not important enough, yet. I definitely plan to change that this year, but never mind that right now.

No matter what I do, I guess I'll never live this certain event down. You probably know me as that sad little first year that got chained up in the dungeons during his first year.

Yeah, by those Death Eaters that took over Hogwarts during the War.

The Carrows.

And yes, I was rescued by Michael Corner. And again, yes, he did get tortured badly and then beaten into a bloody pulp because of me.

After the war, I guess it's safe to say I changed a little bit. Not a lot. I swear I'm not some crazy post-war veteran suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Seriously, I was only a twelve year old kid. I didn't even help out in the battle.

But after the Carrows kidnapped me, I never wanted to be helpless again. I paid attention in class; I stopped being the class joke ( well, maybe about eighty percent of the time. I still cause mayhem and whatnot, but more during the weekends or between classes). I did my homework. I worked especially hard in Defense Against the Dark Arts. It became my best subject.

Dumbledore's Army, once a student rebel movement, became an official club at Hogwarts. I kept going to meetings, even after the war ended. I went at least once a week. By fifth year, I was tutoring first and second years.

My goal for when I leave Hogwarts? To become an Auror.

No matter what.

**Chapter One:**

"Last back to school shopping trip today. Isn't it unreal? These last few years have really flown, haven't they, honey?" says Mum, ruffling my hair as I walk past her to the kitchen.

"Yeah." I smile at her over my shoulder. I normally wouldn't walk away from her like that, but it is early in the morning… and I am really hungry. I'm not exactly charming when I haven't eaten. I summon plates (Merlin, do I love being seventeen) and start putting together breakfast. "Seems like just yesterday I was a little kid, all annoyed about having to go away to school. And now, I'm actually starting to feel like I'm going to miss it."

"That's how it usually works," laughs Dad as he grabs his coffee mug. And Mum wonders where my caffeine addiction comes from.

"Are we going to pick up Lysandra and Tyson in Diagon Alley?" asked Mum. That's been the tradition for the last four or five years. I'd run into two of my best friends while shopping for school supplies, and then I would beg my parents to let the two of them stay with us the last few days before school started.

However… this year, things are different.

"Um, no," I say, cutting pancakes into small pieces as I take a seat at the kitchen table. "I actually invited Nick Nuri and Capricia Walter." Nick and Capricia, or Ricia which is what we normally call her, are the other Gryffindors in my year. I don't usually hang around with them much.

In the last few years, individual house pride has fallen by the wayside. Inter-house unity all the way. Except when it comes to Quidditch. I don't mind admitting that we're still obnoxious and competitive when it comes to the Quidditch cup.

True, Lysandra is also a Gryffindor, but Tyson is in Ravenclaw. And the other member of our little group, Luke, is in Hufflepuff.

Anyway, why are things different?

Because earlier this summer, at Neville and Luna's wedding, Lysandra and Tyson-the-Worthless-Idiot showed up. Together. Hand-in-hand.

On a date.

I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. It's not like I didn't see them snogging their brains out in Hogsmeade towards the end of last year. But still, I had hoped that I would find out that it was some kind of mistake… Like maybe he tripped and landed on her face.

If it sounds like I'm jealous, it's because I am. Yes, I'm that disgustingly cliché that I'm in love with my best friend. And what's worse? Lysandra used to like me, apparently. But I was fourteen, an idiot, and was chasing after someone else.

Now here I am.

Delightful.

**Chapter Two:**

"What happened?" asks my mother. She knows something's up. She always knows. She's got a real gift. And it's a right pain in the arse most of the time. _Especially_ when I don't want to talk about it.

"It's just that since they started…dating…" I spit the word out like it has a bad taste. "Things are… weird. You know? Very third wheel. It's a little better if Luke is around." Lies. It's actually worse because he keeps throwing these concerned looks at me, and I have to act like I don't give a Golden Snitch.

Mum just smiles as she walks by me. "Third wheel. Right."

She knows. How the hell does she do that? Ah well.

At that moment, we're interrupted by my little brother— Rhys. He runs into the room like he's losing a race. Remember when I said that I was less-than-charming when I was hungry? Well, Rhys is almost seven and is downright demented when he's hungry. But I love the kid. I was resentful at first, you know. After ten whole years of being an only child I was kind of spoiled. But the thing is; Rhys probably saved my parents' lives.

Apparently, I am what they called a "first-generation pureblood." As in, all my grandparents were Muggle born wizards, so technically that makes my parents Muggle borns. But since all my grandparents were wizards, I'm a pureblood.

Yeah, it doesn't make sense to me either.

But when the Ministry slash Death Eaters raided our house and discovered that Mum was expecting a pureblood child, they were impressed. This kept my parents from being arrested—or killed—during the war. Provided that Mum and Dad promised to have more pureblood children.

And that's why my five-and-a-half-year-old sister Rebekka is here. Well not "here" here. She's at her friend Lara's house right now. But it's why she _exists_.

Unlike Rhys, Rebekka had me from the first time I saw her. And also unlike Rhys, I never call her a brat or a prat, or anything else that rhymes with "rat." I never yell at her and I pretty much do whatever she asks. According to both my parents and my friends, this is because Rebekka is a little girl. But I think it was because I am older and more mature and already knew how great little siblings could be. And I'm generally nicer to her than to Rhys because she's not insufferable like he is.

Ah, who am I kidding? I laughed inside when I said I was more mature. But the rest is true. I think.

I finish up breakfast, send my empty plate to the sink, and go back to my room to get ready to go to Diagon Alley.


	2. Ch 3 to 5

**Chapter Three: **

"Ow! _Damn_it!"

Yes. Once again, I've hit my head on ceiling. This happens every time I walk up the stairs, always on the very last step. The only good thing about this is that it means I'm tall. Yes, it was necessary to fit that in—it's the one good thing I've got going for my awkward appearance.

Somewhere between fourth and fifth year, I shot up to six-feet-seven-inches. The good parts of being tall: It's harder for normal people to get a get a good stare at my funny looking face and stick up hair. I can reach everything there is. I never have to worry about trying to see through a crowd.

However, height comes with issues. Hitting your head everywhere is one of those problems. Another thing is the… interesting nicknames. "Stilts." "Giraffe-Boy." "Troll."

And my personal favorite: "Hagrid's Bastard" (or "HB"). Although, I probably shouldn't laugh too much at that because even with Hagrid's face covered up by his beard, I still look more like him than my own dad, so I guess anything's possible.

Open the door to my room and a voice says, "Aw, did the poor freakishly tall baby hit his head _again_?"

I leap into the air, and of course, hit my head on the ceiling _a second time._ When my heart rate returns to normal, I turn to find Luke Alexei sitting cross-legged on the floor, going over a checklist for school supplies.

"Is there… any… reason to do that?" I snap, gingerly touching the spot on my head that will soon be an egg sized lump. I'm rubbish at healing spells. Hopefully Mum or Dad can fix it.

"I passed my Apparition test," Luke says proudly.

"Super," I say sarcastically. "Maybe you could have told me in a more normal way? Like using the front door?"

Luke shrugs. "But the look on your face was priceless." He grins.

"Seriously, this is like something Tyson would do," I mutter, getting my own checklist for Diagon Alley out of my sock drawer.

Luke fidgets. "I guess so. I just wanted check on you. I see the look on your face every time Tyson and Lyssie are together. I guess I was kind of… concerned."

Didn't I tell you? Pure Luke pity.

"So, how's Mariah?" I ask, desperate to change the subject.

**Chapter Four:**

Mariah is Luke's longtime girlfriend. She's one of the Muggle borns who was supposed to be in our year, but wasn't allowed to attend Hogwarts during the war. So now, like the other students in her situation, she has to take extra summer courses to catch up with the rest of us. They still will finish school a month later than us.

Luke brightens. "She's good. She turned seventeen last week."

Did I remember to send her a card? I did, right? No. Wait, yes I did. Did I?

"She's getting ready to take her Apparition test, too," Luke adds.

"Bet she only has to take it once," I say, grinning slightly. I'm being terrible, I know. But damnit, this is revenge for scaring the Snitch out of me. And making me hit my head for the second time in the space of about eleven seconds.

Luke scowls a bit, but doesn't seem to be too upset. "C'mon, Ross. You know I hate taking tests. I always panic at first."

I scoff. I'm used to Luke's pre-test jitters. They usually revolved around irritability and awkward run-on sentences. Luke's behavior at the Apparition test had been a lot different. "But most of the time, when you panic, it doesn't involve setting instructors on fire."

"Ooh, la-de-dah. Like you've never accidently set anything on fire."

"Well, considering I'm a raging pyromaniac, I would say it's safe to say that I light every fire for a reason."

"Oh yeah, I forgot. Remember when you set Alecto Carrow's Muggle Study tests on fire in front of the classroom?"

I manage a laugh. "Yeah. I think that's what finally got her mad enough to lock me up."

Luke paled. "Sorry. I didn't mean…"

I shrug. "It's not a big deal. It happened, and now it's over. I wasn't even hurt."

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the closet I've ever come to talking about that subject. And we're going to leave it like that.

Thank you.

**Chapter Five:**

"So erm, I passed my Apparition test," Luke says after a few moments of awkward silence.

I laugh. "Yeah, you mentioned that. Since you're here, want to go to Diagon Alley with us?"

"Well you see, there's kind of another reason why I am here. Shockingly, I didn't come here just to brag, or to frighten you."

"Well, that's a relief. You've never been a boastful or malicious person."

Luke bites his lip. "I was actually with Tyson and Lysandra yesterday. They mentioned that they hadn't heard from you lately. They thought that you were going to invite them over here for the next couple of days. Like you always do. I figured it was less of a 'forgot to invite them' and more of a 'didn't want to invite them.'"

"Well, you're wrong," I say defiantly. I rake my fingers through my hair. A nervous habit. And also an unfortunate habit, because it makes my already peculiar-looking hair stand on end.

"So you are going to invite them up when you see them today?"

"No. It's a 'I've invited someone else' thing. I realized that in seven years, I've never really gotten to know Nick or Ricia, so I figure this is my last chance. I mean, Nick has been my roommate for years and I don't even know…" I pause, what's something mundane but it means you somewhat know the person? "…his middle name."

Why would I want to know his middle name? Do I plan on dating him? What is _wrong_ with me? I'm getting insane. Insane-er.

"What crap," mutters Luke, rolling his eyes. He sees right through me. "Whatever. I just came to make sure you were okay. Obviously not. But at least you're not sitting alone in your room in the dark, rocking back and forth in a corner."

What a charming speech. How does Mariah put up with him?

Ooh! I did send her a birthday card. I remember now. I found a funny little one at a Muggle shop that I knew she would get a kick out of.

"Thank you for your concern. Anyway, you didn't answer me before. Do you want to come with us to Diagon Alley?"


	3. Ch 6 to 8

**Chapter Six:**

Luke shakes his head. "Sorry, mate. I sort of already made plans."

"With Mariah?"

"No. Actually, with Vincent, Indina, and Jonah," he says, referring to three other Hufflepuffs. "Mariah is helping her older brother move into his new house."

"And you're not rushing over there to help her carry heavy boxes?" I ask, surprised. He would normally do that sort of thing.

"She's seventeen now; she can use magic. And she asked me if I'd get her everything she needed for school at Diagon Alley."

"Ah," I say. "Well, how about you come with us to the Leaky Cauldron and you can meet up Vince and Indina and Jonah."

"All right," says Luke. He suddenly smiles. "You know… Indina broke things off with Jason Ritter last week. I live across the street from her and I could hear her yelling. It sounded like she caught him on snogging Emilia Geller."

Oh no. My "Luke's uncontrollable instinct to try to make everyone around him happy" warning system is going off. Nonononononono!

"Maybe you two…" he trails away. "She's gorgeous. Probably one of the best looking girls at school. And she's really sweet."

"Hell no," I say before I can stop myself. "Have you ever had a conversation with her? It's like talking to a goldfish. It hears you, there's a small chance it understands you, but it forgets what you said three seconds later."

"She's not _that_ scatterbrained," says Luke defensively. "And she's the only one besides you that goes to _every _ DA meeting. So you have that in common."

"I go every week because I'm going to be an Auror. She has to go every week because she forgets everything she learned and has to start over."

"I think it's much more likely that her biggest flaw for you is that her name isn't 'Lysandra.'"

I shrug. "So what if it is? If I don't like Indina that way, then it's terrible to lead her on. Despite her um…" I search for a kinder way to phrase it, "lack of memory, she _is _a nice person. It wouldn't be fair."

Luke shrugs. "You have a point, I guess."

**Chapter Seven:**

When we finally get to the Leaky Cauldron, I find Nick and Ricia right away. They smile and wave politely. I can tell they were sort of confused about my invitation, though. We never really did spend a lot of time together, except in first year when we didn't know anyone else and our numbers where much smaller without the Muggle Born students.

We also bump into Luke, Indina, Vince, and Jonah and we decided it would be more fun if we all stayed together.

We got through all morning and even half an hour after lunch before we run into Lysandra and Tyson. I can't be around them—I seriously can't! I've been preparing myself to be around them at Hogwarts, but I can't deal with it now. It's summer, for Merlin's sake!

I greet them as quickly and as warmly as I can before I shout that I forgot something important and I'll meet Nick and Ricia back at the Leaky Cauldron at five thirty.

I run and make my escape to the first building I see- _Weasleys_**' **_Wizard Wheezes._ Perfect. That's practically my home away from home, anyway. And it has proven a worthy sanctuary in the past.

Once inside, I see my friend Melissa, who is also in Gryffindor, attempting to reach a Skiving Snack Box from a top shelf.

"Need help?" I ask.

She turns and smiles up at me. "Oh, hi, Ross. And yeah, please. Sometimes History of Magic is too much for me. Thank you, HB."

"Haha," is my only response to her use of my nickname. It's all right, though. I know Melissa doesn't mean it in a bad way. I grab the box with ease and hand it to her. Being oddly gangly does have a few advantages. "I hate History of Magic. I'm so glad I don't have to take it anymore."

"Yeah. Lucky you. Unfortunately, I'm still behind."

Stupid Death Eaters. I'm not that much different than a Muggle born. What makes my blood purer than hers?

"Anyway, so how's your summer?" Melissa asks, taking the Skiving Snack Box from me.

"It's been fine," I say. "You?"

Melissa shrugs. "Not bad. I had to take a Care of Magical Creatures course. Hagrid showed us Thestrals, supposedly. None of us could see them."

"You don't want to," I tell her.

**Chapter Eight:**

Before Melissa can respond, I'm greeted enthusiastically by George Weasley. "Ross Warren!" he beams. "I was beginning to think that one of my best customers wasn't going to show up before he went back to school."

"Sorry," I say as Melissa waves goodbye and heads over to the counter so she can pay for her Skiving Snack Box. "I've been busy." I wave goodbye to Melissa and turn back to George.

George grins broadly. "I've heard from a very reliable source that back in May, you pushed Mrs. Norris into that bit of swamp that my brother and I created." Something flickers in George's eyes. It's been six years since his twin brother Fred died, but I can tell it still hurts him to think about.

I laugh, feeling a little proud of myself even though I know my actions were kind of despicable. It's not like I really kicked Filch's cat. Just gave her a little nudge. And the little bit of swamp in the corridor is only a few inches deep. It was just enough to ruin her fur and make her smell bad for awhile. And to make Filch's eyes bug out. And inspire Peeves the poltergeist to sing a song in my honor.

Who am I kidding, even with detention it was still a good day.

George seems proud of me to, as if I am a younger brother carrying on a family tradition. He has a bit of an evil smile across his face. I should probably be concerned, but I lack the energy.

"I've got something to show you in the back room," says George. "Follow me."

I sigh. This is nothing new. Almost every time he develops a new product, it seems like I am always the first non-family member he sells it to. I can't blame him because I've literally bought almost every product in the store at least once, not counting the Wonder Witch line of stuff. And that's probably only because I'm not a girl.

We make our way through the crowd and I say hello to some people I know from school. They say hi back but are otherwise too busy crowding over Headless Hats and Canary Creams to bother talking to me. I snag one of my personal favorite Weasley products- a KhaosKit (which is the ultimate Weasley boxset. It contains Skiving Snackboxes, Weasleys' Wildfire Whiz-bangs, and a trick wand)- when George isn't looking.

When we make our way to the back of the store, George opens the supply closet with the sign that says, "Employees Only." He told me a few years ago I was allowed to ignore the sign if I wanted.

George glances around the room to make sure that no else is around before ushering me inside and slamming the door shut.

George looks positively gleeful as he pulls out a blank piece of parchment from his pocket. "You will definitely appreciate this, Ross. No one deserves this more than you. I'll let you have this- no charge. However, you have to swear to guard this with your life and promise you will give it back when you leave school."


	4. Ch 9 to 11

**Chapter Nine:**

I scoff. "Oh, okay." I hold up my right hand in a mocking pledge. "I solemnly swear not to let any harm befall this little piece of paper."

George scowls. "Now, now, now. Don't be rude. I went through a lot of trouble to make this. I've been developing it for the better part of six years. Been trying to copy something. It's not quite the same, but I think I've got it close."

I narrow my eyes. This is too weird, even for George Weasley.

"The original used to be mine and Fred's. We gave it to Harry Potter quite a few years ago. I've been trying to convince him that it belongs to the best and brightest of Hogwarts and it's not doing anyone any good when it is shut away in a desk. However, his dad and his godfather helped make this, so it holds sentimental value for him. I think he wants to pass it on to his kids, but… _that will be a few years_." His voice takes on a firm tone on the last few words of his sentence.

I smile, Harry Potter married George's little sister, Ginny, about two years ago. Sounds like George still isn't used to the idea.

"So we've compromised. I want to make a copy." He reads the look on my face. "Now just give me a chance to explain," George adds. He takes a seat behind his desk and smoothes the paper out so that I can get a better look at it.

"All right," I say, curious despite myself. "I promise to take good care of this."

George nods. "Good boy." He takes out his wand and lightly taps the parchment. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

I drop the KhoasKit I was holding and stare, dumbfounded as the lines begin crisscrossing across the paper until I read the words___**Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, are proud to present The Marauders' Map.**_

Whoa.

On closer examination, I see that the Marauders' Map is really a map of Hogwarts. A map of Hogwarts that showed every last detail of the castle—every room was labeled, as well as secret passages… and the people? I noticed a tiny little dot moving slowly across the Trophy Room, carrying a tag that read "Argus Filch."

No… way…

Further down the third floor, I noticed another dot, Missus Norris. And the third, zooming back and forth across the Great Hall (so quickly I almost can't read it) is Peeves.

"Where did this come from?" I ask. "Heaven?"

George laughs ."No, just from three noble men who wanted to pass down their knowledge of Hogwarts castle to future generations. Unfortunately, I don't think I've managed to make it _quite_ as accurate. It definitely lacks some of the more _amusing_ security measures. I digress. I want you to test this for me. Make sure the labels on the dots are accurate. And here," he says pointing at spot on the map, "is a secret passageway. It requires a password. The original map gave me the password and I want you to make sure that this copy will tell you the password, too. And of course, when you're finished using it, wipe it clean with the phrase 'Mischief managed.'" George tapped the paper with his wand again, and it returned to its previous ordinary state. "Then to bring it back say, 'I solemnly swear that I am up to know good." George rolls up the map and cautiously holds it up. "All you have to do is report to me how well it works and it's yours for the school year. What do you say?"

**Chapter Ten:**

"I say that I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good!"

George smiles like I've given the correct answer on a test and holds the map out towards me.

This is better than coming of age and Christmas combined. No matter what happens—or more likely, doesn't happen—between me and Lysandra, I think I'm still in store for a pretty great year. I take the map from George, silently swearing to return it to him in perfect condition.

"This is incredible," I say, completely lost for any other words. I stand up and George fallows suit. "I er… Thank you, for this."

George nods and shakes my hand, muttering something about how it's a weird problem he has picked up from running a business. "No problem. Thank _you_ for carrying on Hogwarts' Legacy of Excellent Trouble Makers. I thought, what was going on with you right now, you could use something like this to cheer you up."

"What do you mean?" I ask, my eyes narrowing as I carefully fold up the Marauder's Map and tuck it into my pocket.

George raised and lowered one shoulder. "At Neville and Luna's wedding. The look on your face when you caught site of Lysandra with… what's his name?"

"Worthless Idiot," I say, dully. I can't believe I'm so obvious. I disgust myself.

"No, it's not something that _everyone_ sees," says George, somehow knowing what I was thinking. "It's just that I know the feeling and recognized The Face."

"Really? What happened?"

George is quiet for a moment before he says, "It's not important. Let's just say you should be grateful that you didn't have to deal with the Yule Ball like I did. It was an ancient and civilized form of torture for one and for all."

O-kaaaay. Definitely sorry I asked.

"I wouldn't go to a Yule Ball, even if Hogwarts did have one. I'd rather stay in Gryffindor common room playing Exploding Snap and any girl worth my time wouldn't want to go either."

George laughs in appreciation. "Good."

I turn and head towards the door, thanking George one more time, and head out back to the street. I can't hide here forever and as soon as I get accustomed to the site of Lysandra and Worthless Idio—I mean, Tyson, the better off I'll be.

**Chapter Eleven:**

I pay for a few things from George's shop and I take out my supply list and cross off: "Necessary Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes Products." I just need to get a few potion ingredients from the apothecary and I'm all set for my final year at Hogwarts.

Merlin, that's terrifying.

I barely get halfway to said apothecary before I hear the Dreaded Voice. Damn it to hell and back.

You probably think I'm referring to Lysandra or Worthless Idiot right now, but you would be wrong. I turn around grumbling under my breath and come face to face with my Arch Nemesis.

Carson Hale, better known by me as Carse Hole, is standing there, leaning against Flourish and Blotts bookstore. Shockingly, he's alone. He's normally got a whole entourage to back him up, plus a few of the younger and more stupid girls at Hogwarts hanging on his arm.

This can_not_ be good.

"Hi, Carson," I say dully between gritted teeth. As calmly and as surreptitiously as I can, I reach for my wand. Just as a precaution. Carse Hole didn't earn his name because he always plays fair. "What do you want?"

"Now Ross, that's not very polite. Didn't that alleged mother of yours ever teach you to respect your elders?"

Carse Hole is a Muggle born who is supposed to be a year above me. However, he wasn't allowed to attend second year because of, yes you guessed it, the war. (I do feel like I'm repeating myself a little bit.) Carson's been a little bitter ever since, I guess. Also, there's the whole thing about him wanting to be an Auror, too. The Aurors only recruit the best, usually one student a year is brought on, if that. So we're constantly competing, fighting, hexing each other, all that stupid stuff.

"'Alleged mother'? What are you, five?" I scoff. It took awhile, but I now know better than to get angry when he mentions my mother. Mum insults are just proof that he's immature…. At least that's what Lysandra always told me. "Anyway, as much as I would love to hang around here and listen to your annoying, tinny voice attempt to insult me, I've got things to do and no time to listen to your crap. Goodbye. See you at Hogwarts."

I turn on my heel and start walking towards the Apothecary.

"I think you're going to want to listen to what I've got to say," Carson calls after me.


	5. Ch 12 to 15

**Chapter Twelve:**

Listen to what he has to say?

HA!

My brow furrows as I turn and meet Carse Hole's eyes. "The only words I'm ever going to be willing to hear from you are, 'Ross is Supreme Ruler of the Universe, and I, Carson Hale, am nothing but lowly Forbidden Forest Acromantula Poo.'" I start to turn away again when I catch Carson shrugging.

"All right, all right," says Carson, looking bored and picking at something under one of his fingernails. "It makes no difference to me." His voice takes on a sing-song quality highly reminiscent of Peeves, "You'll be sorry…"

I'm intrigued. I shouldn't be. Curiosity killed the Kneezle, and it seems like I might be joining it soon.

I turn back. "Fine. What is it?"

Carson straightens up and grins in an evil way that I have come to associate with impending doom. "I think I saw your little brother wandering around on his own; it looked like he was heading towards Knockturn Alley."

"Bullsnitch," I snap. I really hate this idiot.

Carson tilts his head to the side, widening his eyes. Like he's innocent, or something. He's something, all right. "Really? You sure?" Carson bites his lip, feigning concern. "About seven years old? Looks an awful lot like you, except lucky for him, his hair isn't quite as bizarre as yours…"

I let out a slight gasp. I feel my stomach plummet right through my bowels. Sorry if that's a little too graphic, but it's the truth. Rhys is going through what my dad is lovingly referring to as an adventurous phase. Between Dad and Mum, Rhys usually never gets very far. They must have lost him in the crowd today, though.

_Merlin_!

"And you didn't stop a little kid from wandering into Knockturn Alley?" I'm shouting now due to panic. "You really think you could be an Auror? You're pathetic."

I push him aside and start heading towards the end of the Alley and towards the entrance to Knockturn Alley.

**Chapter Thirteen:**

I push past a handful of people and run up and down the length of Knockturn Alley. I suddenly realize this is the first time I've ever been here. My mother's never allowed me.

I run up the whole street, Rhys is nowhere to be found. I let out a long stream of swears underneath my breath.

This means that I'm going to have to actually go into the shops to search for Rhys. Just perfect.

I sigh and enter the first shop I see, a lovely little place called Borgin and Burkes'. As I walk in, I hear a bell ring somewhere above my head. I glance around the crowded room, no sign of Rhys.

"Can I help you, sir?" asks the man behind the counter, who I can only assume is Borgin or Burke.

"I'm.. my little brother's gotten away from my family…" I say, deciding it's best to be honest. "You haven't seen him, have you? He's nearly seven years old, and—"

"No, I haven't seen him," says the man in a harsh voice. "I don't sell to kids unless they're accompanied by a parent or guardian."

"That's good to hear," I say in an annoying false and cheery way. "Well, er, I'll get out of your way and continue to look for him. If you do happen to see him, could you tell him to go to the Leaky Cauldron and wait for me, Mum or Dad to show up?"

Borgin or Burke grumbles and mutters something that I take to mean a "yes" and I run out of the shop as quickly as possible. I check out three more stores, asking the proprietors if they happened to see Rhys. None of them had.

I'm starting to get the suspicion that Carse Hole just glimpsed Rhys with my parents and made up the part about him being on his own to get me to go skulking around dirty Knockturn Alley. It certainly seems like the kind of dumb prank he would play on me. However, on the small chance that he was being honest, I can't give up.

The next shop I walk into is called Ara's Apothecary. For a moment, I entertain the ludicrous idea that I might be able to get my potion supplies here.

Yes, I know. Stupid.

After a few seconds, it is clear that this place looks nothing like the Apothecary in Diagon Alley. It's much darker, several of the glass jars seem to glow, and I don't recognize most of the names on the labels. On a positive note, it smells a lot better. Like cinnamon and sage, and some sort of spice that I can't name.

I don't see any employees. Or Rhys.

**Chapter Fourteen:**

"Hello?" I call. I sound nervous, for some reason. Get a grip, Ross. There's nothing to be afraid of! "Is anybody here?"

I take a few steps further into the little shop. I walk slowly, for two reasons. One, the only light in the room is coming from the two small windows and the occasional glowing jar and I do not want to trip. Two, despite the fact that Knockturn Alley has cleaned up a lot since Voldemort was defeated, I really do not like it here. Something about it is just… creepy.

I walk over to the shadowy front counter. No one is there. I should probably leave, but I know there's a chance that Rhys is in here. He'd love all the weird glow-y stuff in here and if there was no one around to catch him...

"Rhys?" I shout. "You're in deep trouble, you little prat!"

After a few minutes of searching, I notice a staircase. So there's a second floor? I take the steps two at time. At the top of the stairs there's a door with a sign spellotaped to it. I squint and can barely make out the words: **Caution! Products on This Floor are Exceptionally Rare, Expensive, and/or Dangerous. No Admittance to Those Under Seventeen.**

Fan-bloody-tastic. Rhys would see this sign and have a field day with the opportunity to get here. "You had better not have broken anything in here!" I shout as I open the door.

This room is a little more brightly lit due to the skylight and more windows, but it's still quite dim. However, unlike the lower level, which was wide open with products placed neatly side-by-side in the built-in shelves on the walls, this room is built like a library: multiple shelves and rows, winding and twisting their way around the room. About fifty places for a bratty kid to hide.

"Rhys, this isn't funny," I say, looking between two aisles. "This place is—"

I break off when I hear a distant creak. Someone's up here. And given that no one is yelling, I'm betting it's Rhys. Trying to taunt me.

"Rhys, come on. If you come out, I'll buy you a miniature Puffskein from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes." Bribery. The last refuge of the desperate older sibling. "Rhys, please? I promise I won't tell Mum you ran off. EW!" I groan as I catch sight of a jar of pickled silver unicorn hooves. That. Is. Disgusting. What else is up here?

**Chapter Fifteen:**

I pass a few more rows of shelves, my eyes sweeping every corner, waiting until I see Rhys' grinning face somewhere. Along the way, I glimpse more lovely items in jars. Like Kneezle eyes. Krup intestines. Something that I can only assume is a Basilisk fang (I do not want to even begin to think about how much that would cost). Sphinx tails, jars of Streeler venom, Acromantula pincers and venom, Werewolf tongues…

And to my utter horror, a jar filled with what looks like light gray, furling mist labeled "Nundu Breath" with a tag saying "Price Upon Request."

My stomach drops as I recall History of Magic lessons discussing the whole African villages that have been killed by the diseases caused by the Nundu's breath.

I shudder and avoid the rest of that whole row, praying that Rhys didn't go anywhere near it.

Finally, I come to end of the final shelf, which is empty except for one vial filled with a dark maroon liquid. It has a sticker reading: _Nosferatu Haima_

What the bleeding hell is Nosferatu Haima?

Like some of the jars downstairs, this stuff is shining slightly. And unlike the stuff downstairs, the contents of this little vial are bubbling very slightly. I press my index finger against glass. The "Nosferatu Haima" bubbles more quickly, like a cauldron over a fire.

Very strange.

Suddenly, something grabs my leg. I jump up in shock. Also, I let out a stream of swears as I bring my fist down on the shelf. And I crush the bottle. Of course. I feel it splinter beneath my hand and the contents ooze out. Spectacular. My hand is cut and bleeding, bits of glass sticking into me. And whatever "Nosferatu Haima" is nauseatingly sticky. And it smells like rust. Can you say "revolting?"

Oh and one other thing? It's causing the cuts in my hand to sting like a motherbludger.

"Gotcha!" says Rhys' voice, giggling. I look down and see Rhys' peering up from the lowest shelf, a mischievous grin spread across his little angelic face.

"Ross, I swear to Merlin, I'm going to rip your head off!" I seethe. Say that I favor one sibling over the other if you want, but let's be honest: Rebekka does not give me this kind of grief. "That was not funny. And now because of you, I broke this bottle. I'm going to have to-"

A floorboard creaks. Great. We're caught.


	6. Ch 16 to 19

**Chapter Sixteen:**

I carefully brush the glass shards off my hands and turn around to face whoever has caught us. For about ten seconds, I think it's a Dementor walking towards me. The figure is tall- more than six feet- and wearing a thick, dark cloak with the hood pulled up, hiding its face. Then I notice that it is holding a wand in its very live and human hands.

The figure pauses, then lowers its hood. It's a girl, only a few years older than me. I would say she is twenty-one at the oldest. She reminds me a little bit of pictures I've seen of Bellatrix Lestrange in my history books—long dark hair tangling past her waist, her equally dark eyes heavily lined with kohl. At least she doesn't have that manic look in her about her, like a spider about to eat a fly.

"What are you doing?" she asks. While she doesn't exactly have a warm and loving tone, it's nowhere near as harsh as I was expecting it to be.

"I was looking for this little weasel," I say, tugging Rhys up from underneath the shelf. "My little brother… he got away from my parents."

She raises an eyebrow and her gaze slides from Rhys and me to the broken vial shards lying in a pool of Nosferatu Haima.

"Yeah," I say guiltily, noticing where she's looking. "I guess I'll have to pay for that," I mumble.

Her eyebrow raises higher. "You have six thousand galleons?"

My jaw drops. "What? Of course not! Oh, Merlin's pants. Rhys, I'm going to kill you!"

The girl manages a slight smile. "Don't worry about it. I'm pretty sure I can fix this." She waves her wand. The glass shards spring together. The Nosferatu Haima raises up from the shelf and slowly drips back into the newly repaired vial.

"There you go, good as new. Might be a little dusty, but what whoever buys it doesn't know won't hurt them." She now flashes me a bright smile. "Just promise you won't mention it to anyone."

"Um, thank you," I say, so grateful that she didn't go ballistic or demand that I pay the money. "What is that stuff, anyway?"

"Nosferatu Haima."

"Yeah, I can read. I just don't know what Nosferatu or Haima is."

She laughs. "Nosferatu is another word for vampire. And Haima is blood. Vampire blood. It's a real pain to get, hence being so expensive." She holds out her hand to me. "I'm Ara."

**Chapter Seventeen:**

"Ara of 'Ara's Apothecary?'" I ask, surprised. She's so young to have a business all her own.

"Close, but not quite," she says, taking her cloak off and placing it on one of the empty shelves. "That Ara was my mother. She named me after herself. But this is mine now."

"Ross," I tell her and shake her hand. "And this is Rhys."

Ara smiles down at him as she tucks her hair behind her ear. "Hello, Rhys. Giving your big brother trouble?"

Rhys beams at her but doesn't otherwise say anything. Weird, he's not usually shy. He's normally the exact opposite.

"Well," I say. "I guess we'll go before we can do anymore damage. Thanks again for not making me pay all that money. Or cutting off my head and mounting it on the wall."

Why do I say stupid things out loud?

Ara lets out a sharp laugh. "Mounting your severed head? Really? I take it you've never been to Knockturn Alley before."

"Heh. What gave me away?"

"Everybody thinks that only Dark witches and wizards work here or shop here. It's not true, even before the War. Plenty of us have never hurt anyone. We're just testing the boundaries of magic. We have no idea what its full potential is. Is it so wrong to try and learn something?"

"Oh. Okay." I say, still edging towards the door. "I'll remember that next time someone complains that everyone in Knockturn Alley is evil."

Ara smiles. "Much appreciated." She takes my hand, still bleeding, taps it with her wand and heals the cut.

"Thanks," I say again. I grab Rhys by the elbow and start to drag him towards the door. I take about three steps before Ara calls me back.

"Ross?" she asks.

I turn and look at her. Rhys takes this distraction as a chance to escape, but I hold tight to his sleeve. I feel him slump in defeat.

"Don't make it a habit of poking around shops when the shopkeeper isn't around. Especially in this neighborhood. Not everyone it as nice as I am."

I force myself not to laugh at her contradicting herself. "Thanks again," I say for the third time, and drag Rhys with me back to Diagon Alley.

**Chapter Eighteen:**

"Oh, thank God!" I hear someone cry as soon as Rhys and I step into The Leaky Cauldron.

Mum. Of course.

I drag Rhys across the pub. I don't even have to search the room. I immediately catch site of my mum and dad, Lysandra, Tyson, Luke, Nick, and Ricia. They're all crowed at a table. Tyson and Nick have the remains of dinner in front of them.

I look around for Indina, Jonah, and Vincent, but I don't see them. I guess they must have gone home already.

"Where were you?" asks Luke, squinting at me.

"Yeah. We looked everywhere in Diagon Alley twice!" says Tyson. "We were getting worried, mate." He smiles at me, completely unaware that he's one of the reasons for my current state of misery.

I should stop referring to him as Worthless Idiot. But then again (I glance back down at the nearly empty plate in front of him), it looks like he paused during my search party to have snack…

"We even split up into three groups and we still couldn't find you," adds Nick. "That's a really impressive trick."

"They were at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes," says Lysandra suddenly. She claps her hand to her forehead. "Of course. George said that Ross is allowed in the back room. I completely forgot. That's where you were, weren't you, Ross?"

She catches my eye. I know in that instant that somehow she figured out that I was in Knockturn Alley. She's covering for me. Covering for me brilliantly, I might add. And this is why I love her. Wait, no, I don't mean the L word! I mean I just… yeah. All right, fine. I love her. Happy?

"Yeah." I say. "George is working on a new product and thought that Rhys and I would be willing to test it out for him." I inconspicuously give Rhys a good pinch to make sure he goes along with this story. He steps on my foot in reply.

"Well, for Pete's sake, just tell us next time," says Dad. "You really gave us a fright."

"Yeah. Sorry, Dad," I say as Rhys tells Mum he's sorry.

"All right, let's go home. I'm dying for dinner," I say. "And I hate eating here."

**Chapter Nineteen:**

You're probably thinking, "Blasphemy! A wizard that doesn't like The Leaky Cauldron?"

Yeah. Sorry.

I just do not see what the big deal is about this place. According to all my friends, I'm crazy. But to me, it seems like the people here overcook everything they make. There food's always spongy and tasteless. I seriously get food poisoning every time I eat here.

"Here, here," Dad agrees. He's always agreed with me that this place serves terrible food and he's gotten sick from eating here a couple times as well. Mum says were both half-wolf or something because we like our food raw. Well, not raw exactly, but I'd rather it be raw than overcooked. Just thinking about it makes me sick to my stomach.

"All right," says Mum. "Check your list; make sure you have everything."

I go over my list and realize I still haven't gone to the Apothecary for my potion supplies. Luckily, Mum says that she went and got them without me.

"Here," she says, handing me a bag. "Don't lose them. A lot of the stuff in there is pretty expensive. What kind of potions is Slughorn going to have you make this year?"

I shrug. Why would I know what we're going to learn this year? If I already knew, why would I bother taking the class? That seems like a waste of time."Stuff that's more complicated than last year's potions? Anyway, thank you, Mum."

I say quick goodbyes to Luke, Tyson, and Lysandra. Lysandra gives me a hug. This is nothing unusual. She's probably hugged me goodbye a thousand times before. However, this is definitely the first time she's hugged me in front of Tyson. Well, her "boyfriend" Tyson.

Vomit.

By some miracle, I avoid clenching up awkwardly as Lysandra throws her arms around my waist (she's no longer able to reach my shoulders). I catch Tyson's eye. He smiles distantly, not really paying attention. Well, that's a good sign. He probably doesn't suspect…

Having my hands on Lysandra's back suddenly feels very inappropriate. I try not hold on to her too long, or to let go of her too quickly. Either one of those can seem suspicious.

"See you in a few days, Ross," Lysandra says into my chest. She doesn't ask me why I invited Nick and Ricia instead of her and Tyson. I kind of thought that she might. That's the kind of thing she would do. Maybe she knows why. Oh, Merlin, I hope not. I don't really like that idea.

"Yeah, you too," I mumble as she lets go.


	7. Ch 20 to 22

**Chapter Twenty:**

Once Lysandra and I break apart I feel strangely exposed.

I half expect Tyson to suddenly figure everything out and then to leap up and start hexing me. He doesn't though. Even though Tyson is a Ravenclaw and Ravenclaws are supposed to be smart, Tyson is book smart. He's not that smart when it comes to human behavior and reading emotions and whatnot. Back when I blatantly fancied this other girl (let's not name her), Tyson asked me why I got all weird around her.

Lysandra hit him for that one. Haha.

Yeah, as long as Luke keeps his mouth shut, I do not have to worry about Tyson figuring out how I feel about his so-called "girlfriend." (According to Luke, I'm probably using quotes because I'm in denial.) Tyson shuffles over to pat me on the back and makes vague promises to help give Filch one last year of Ross Warren Meets Tyson Kane hell before we leave Hogwarts forever.

"I mean, obviously we can't leave behind a swamp," he says, "because that's the Weasleys' thing. But I thought he should do something like that, you know—permanent. I'm sure we can come up with something good, though. There's no way we're walking out of that castle without leaving it scarred."

I laugh and agree, but my heart is not in it as much as I want it to be. Sigh, just a few weeks ago, this would have had me laughing evilly and already anxious to start planning mayhem. I hate when things change. It just complicates stuff.

Lysandra and Tyson grab each other's hands and head off back to Diagon Alley. I almost start to wonder what they might be doing but I stop. No point in torturing myself.

I tell Luke goodbye, too. He smiles sympathetically but doesn't otherwise say anything. For once, he knows that saying anything won't make any difference. And then Disapparates. Leaving me with my family and Nick and Ricia.

"I'll meet you all at home," says Mum, straightening her robes. She hugs Rhys and me goodbye and kisses Dad on the cheek. "I'm going to go pick up Rebekka from Lara's house. She's probably worn out her welcome and then some by now."

"Not possible," says Dad. "Lara's mother loves Rebekka. Remember when she asked if we would trade Lara for Rebekka?"

"Yes," says Mum, narrowing her eyes. She doesn't really like Lara's family and it was quite the battle getting her to agree to let Rebekka spend a weekend there. She Disapparates. Dad, Nick, Ricia, and I leave as well.

Here goes nothing.

**Chapter Twenty-One:**

I'm quite amazed to discover that I actually like Nick and Ricia quite a bit. We're sitting in my living room, eating a lot of food that isn't particularly good for us and talking about everything imaginable. We're getting along great and I can't believe that we haven't spent more time together during the past sixth years.

Nick reminds me a bit of Luke— genuine and kind. However, unlike Luke he's a lot more laid back. He lets life's hardships mildly amuse him as opposed to getting all uptight. He's studding to be a Curse Breaker at Gringotts.

Ricia is his exact opposite. She's very cynical, constantly stressing out. Her father and mother want her to be a Healer, but she wants nothing more than to be a musician, preferably a lead guitarist for an angry girl band. And she's every bit as sarcastic as I am.

I'm surprised they're so close.

When I bring the fact that they're opposite up, they both laugh.

"He's like my other half, exactly. We sort of need each other," explains Ricia. "He keeps me from getting too serious, you know? I would have had a nervous breakdown during O.W.L.s if it weren't for him. I was practically hyperventilating studding for Arithmancy. He just took my book away and told me to go for a walk. And you know what? I actually did a lot better on Arithmancy than I normally do. In turn, I keep him from turning into a complete prat."

"Capricia!" says Nick, narrowing his eyes. "Is it really necessary to call me a prat—just because I'm not as bitter as you?"

"Shut up," she says, shoving him so that he falls off his chair and lands on the floor. "And don't call me Capricia. That's a really stupid name."

"It's more interesting than Nick," he says bracingly. "About eight million people are named Nickolas. That's boring. You're name is unique. It's yours."

"How poetic." Ricia turns to me. "See this is the kind of stuff I put up with on a near daily basis. Luckily I'm here to make sure he stays in the real world and not float off to his alternate universe full of sunshine and happiness"

"You honestly don't think that you're bitter?" Nick asks, incredulously.

**Chapter Twenty-Two:**

"I'm not bitter!" Ricia exclaims, sounding offended. "I'm tortured. _Tortured_. Don't you know that all great musicians are _tortured_?" Ricia explains. She sounds a lot more patiently than she normally does.

"Tortured?" Nick repeats, sounding surprised. "Haha. I think, if anything, that you're the one doing the torturing, Ricia."

Ricia doesn't respond this time, expect to roll her eyes.

Nick and Ricia aren't dating either, like I always assumed. They're actually somewhat convinced that they're long-lost siblings. It would explain a lot.

The rest of the evening is spent in a similar way—Ricia insulting Nick, Nick insisting that Ricia's bitter, but all three of us manage to laugh quite a bit.

Somewhere around one or two in the morning, Ricia falls asleep on the couch, buried in a nest of her own clothes. We had lost Nick a few hours ago. Around eleven o'clock, he curled up on the floor and was out cold within minutes. He's snoring a little, now.

I, however, can't sleep. It's not because I'm not tired. I'm very tired. It's my hand. The one I cut on that smashed vial—it's stinging slightly, despite the fact that Ara had fixed it for me. I wonder if she healed it over a bit of broken glass? I gingerly run my fingers over my hand, checking for any little bumps. There's nothing. I come to the conclusion that it's all in my head.

That's right, Ross is crazy. Well, we already knew that, didn't we? I mean, I've been talking to myself all day, that's enough proof for you. Only crazy people do that. But I'm the good kind of crazy. And even if I'm not, let's just pretend I am.

I head towards the kitchen. When in doubt- or in this case, when one becomes an insomniac: find a way to obtain hot chocolate and cookies. Scratch that. You don't need the doubt or insomniacness or any reason really. Just get hot chocolate and cookies. Or at least cookies.

Since I know this old house so well, I don't even bother lighting my wand as I walk across the living room and open the door to the dark and windowless hallway. I skid across the wooden floor and slide into the kitchen. I make my over to where the lamp is so I can light it (it's never a good idea to eat in the dark. You'll never know what you're putting in there) when I hear a slight rustle.

I freeze. I pull my wand out of my pocket as something brushes past my side, not quite up to my waist. About three and a half feet tall.


	8. Ch 22 to 25

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

Even before I say Lumos, I know it's got to be Rebekka. Nothing else in our house is that short, not even the cats. Haha, I'm kidding. Anyway, sure enough, I see her little face appear. The wandlight makes her white blonde hair look rather gold. Her eyes reflect the light ever so slightly, just like the cats'.

"Jeez, Beks." I light the overhead lamp as dimly as possible, just enough to see the room. "Any reason to give me a heart attack?"

She giggles. "Sorry, Ross. I thought you might have been Dad."

"Yes, well, lucky you. Dad would throw himself into a fit if he saw you wandering around at this hour." It's true. He could give two sickles about how much Rhys and I sleep. But Rebekka needs eight hours a night, every night, always. And you thought I was biased. "What are you doing up, anyway? It's way past your bedtime."

"I could say the same for you."

"I am seventeen. I am of age. I'll be eighteen in October and so I'll be overage. I'm almost done with Hogwarts. I have no bedtime."

"Yeah. Okay," she scoffs. She knows she has a point.

See, while Dad might not care if I sleep or not, Mum does.

"All right," I say, guiding her away from the door. I don't want our voices to carry upstairs and wake up the parents. Or my friends. Or Rhys. Definitely not Rhys. That would be bad. "I'll make you a deal. You help me finish off a midnight snack, and I won't tell Mum and Dad you were up late. Fair?"

Rebekka nods as she climbs up onto a stool at the kitchen table. I get out two mugs for the hot chocolate. I fill Rebekka's only half way. And I grab the tin cookie box Mum thinks we can't find behind Dad's box of oatmeal and join Rebekka at the table.

She only eats two cookies to my four or five, and drains her mug of hot chocolate in one gulp. "I want more." She nudges her cup at me. I shake my head.

"I didn't even have a whole cup!"

"Shh, keep your voice down. Anyway, if you have a full cup, you'll wake up at four in the morning and need to pee. Then not only will you have stayed up late, but you'll wake up too early. And you'll be irritable for the rest of the day. C'mon, sis. We had a deal."

She sighs. "Fine."

I kiss her on top of the head. "Night, Beks."

**Chapter Twenty-Four:**

Rebekka pushes me away from her and scowls. "Goodnight, _Ross_," she says, huffily. She turns and marches into the hallway.

I smile lightly and silently count to three. She can't stay made at me anymore than I can stay mad at her. I barely finished thinking the word "two" and Rebekka shuffles back into the room. By the time I think "three," Rebekka yanks me into a hug.

"I knew there was no way you wouldn't hug me goodnight," I tell her. You're as predictable as one of Great Aunt Lucinda's stupid, trashy novels," I say. "Go to sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

"Yeah. All right. Okay," Rebekka says in defeat. "You better go back to sleep, too," she adds as she backs up to the door. "You can't be a good host if you're passed out until one o'clock in the afternoon." She turns and heads back to her room.

I clean the mugs and the plates we used. I put the tin box away and I also replace the eight cookies Rebekka and I ate so Mum won't know we had them.

I turn and extinguish the lamp. I go into the bathroom and brush my teeth. I scowl slightly at my reflection and halfheartedly attempt to flatten my hair. Luke and Tyson have both told me that Harry Potter has made messy hair cool, so I don't need to worry. But I've seen Harry's hair, it just sticks up in the back a little. My hair seems to grow in standing on end, like I've been hit with lightening. I can't cut it off, though. I tried once. I looked like a Quaffle.

Once my teeth are clean, I hover awkwardly in the bathroom. Do I go back to the living room, or my bedroom? On the one hand, sleeping in my bed instead of the floor is very appealing. But ditching my guests seems rude, even to me.

I never had this problem when Lysandra and Tyson were over. My parents usually sent Rhys and Rebekka off to their friends so Tyson would have Rhys' room and Lysandra would have Rebekka's. (And if you're a bit slow: I had my own room.) We didn't have to stay up late getting to know each other because… we already knew each other.

In the end, I decide that it's probably better that I go back to the living room. I walk slowly, avoiding all the floorboards that creak so I won't wake anyone up. With each step I take, I get more and more tired. Good. At least I shouldn't have trouble falling asleep now.

I sink into the far corner of the room and curl up on the throw rug. I dimly think about getting blankets or something. But I can't move. Too tired. Before I know it, I'm sound asleep.

**Chapter Twenty-Five:**

_She walks along the winding earthy pathway idly, kicking up dirt and pebbles with her well-worn and scuffed up boots. She's also carrying a leather knapsack, dangling from a rope. Sometimes she lets it drag on the ground, obviously not caring if it gets damaged or dirty._

_While she's clearly not happy with her current situation, she doesn't seem at all concerned with the fact that she's wandering alone deep in the heart of a forest in the middle of the night. _

_If anything, she seems bored._

_Despite the fact that it is pitch dark, and even those with the best eyesight wouldn't have a prayer of making anything out of their surroundings, she studies all of the trees on the left side of the path until one of them catches her eye: A yew tree with something carved in it. She walks closer to it, running her fingers over the carving to make absolutely sure that it was carved and not some natural anomaly. The carving looks something like a sloppy letter F. But she knows better. This is a rune symbol. For moon. It's the first sign that she was told to look for tonight. _

_At least now she knows she's going the right way._

_From that point on, she starts counting the trees: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. From the seventh tree she examines the ground until she sees three small stones, all the same shape, perfectly round. _

_She squats down and attempts to push one of the rocks with her index finger. It won't budge. Neither do the other two. Good. The second sign._

_Here she steps off the path and begins to make her way through the dense growth of trees. She navigates her way expertly through, always avoiding snagging her clothes on branches or stumbling over the uneven ground. It seems as if she does this sort of thing every day. _

_She walks in a line as straight as possible, quietly counting each step she takes to herself. When she reaches one hundred and fifty, she turns left and starts the counting a second time. With each step she takes, she becomes more painfully aware that forest is slowly growing brighter. The sun will be up soon. She continues walking, picking up the pace a bit. Her panic rises as she struggles to keep up with the counting._

_To her immediate relief once she finally hits the number one thousand, she spots the safe haven that she was told to find. The so-called safe haven looks like a pile of rocks. But upon further examination, she discovers the opening to a small cave, a cave that is obviously isn't naturally made. Once inside, she uses her pack to block the entrance, mostly in an effort to keep out the sun. She slumps against the wall of cave, exhausted. If she really pushes herself, she can finish her journey tomorrow. She closes her eyes_.


	9. Ch 26 to 29

**Chapter Twenty-Six:**

I wake with a start, my heart hammering in my chest. I'm so disoriented. Where am I? It takes a moment to remember that I fell asleep on the floor of the living room. Ricia is still out cold on the couch and Nick is still snoring in the opposite corner of the room.

I yawn as quietly as possible and I check my watch. It's not quite five-thirty in the morning. The sun's just barely up.

Delightful.

Normally if I had slept this little, I would definitely try to go back to bed for a little while. But I know there's no point, I'm too shook up over that dream.

And so it all comes back.

What a bizarre dream. Its content wasn't really all that interesting. Just some random, weird girl wandering along the forest at night, practically asking to get eaten by werewolves and Trolls and God knows whatever else that lives in the deepest, darkest part of the forest.

No, I've had much weirder dreams before. Like the time I had a dream that I was going to play Quidditch for Canada (despite the fact that I'm terrible at Quidditch and I can barely locate Canada on a map). All of my teammates only spoke French and I couldn't understand a bloody thing anyone was saying. Then one of the Chasers hexed me so my head turned into a Quaffle…. Yes, I had this dream the night I went and cut off all my hair and it made me look like a Quaffle. Don't judge me.

Anyway, what unsettles me is how realistic it was. How detailed. Every last boring aspect- from her counting her stupid steps and looking for rock caves. Normally when I have dreams, no matter how incredible or entertaining, they're always blurred and dimmed memories by the time I wake up. But I remember everything about this dream, as long and dull as it was.

And there was something else that was weird. Sometimes the dream went like I was watching this girl from far away. Well, that's not the weird part. I'm a hormonal teenager, I've had the occasional dream about a girl. But there were other times, where it was like… I_ was_ her. I knew things that she knew—like the rune symbol for Moon. I've never taken a Rune class, or the hidden entrance to that cave thing—why would I know about that?

Ugh. Dreaming about a girl is one thing. Dreaming that you _are_ a girl is another matter entirely. But given how I currently feel about Lysandra, I guess I don't really need to be too worried. But all the same, this isn't going in my dream diary for Divination class. Just. Not. Happening. Trelawney would have a field day, and she can never keep her mouth shut. And I'm not telling my friends about it, either. I can practically hear all the "clever" and "witty" remarks that Worthless Idiot could come up with.

Note to self, stop referring to Tyson as Worthless Idiot. He has no idea how you feel about Lyssie and you might accidently say it out loud one day. Second note to self, rethink the whole hot chocolate and cookies bit next time you're feeling a bit insomni-atic. Clearly, it does something weird to your brain.

**Chapter Twenty-Seven:**

Ricia and Nick didn't wake up until after ten in the morning. In the spirit of our new friendship, I made breakfast for everyone… that was quickly labeled "mildly toxic" and so Nick took over. I don't know where he learned to cook, but if I'm being honest, he could teach my mum a thing or two.

Now we're outside in my yard, playing Quidditch. Well, a badly bastardized version of Quidditch. No Snitch or any type of Snitch substitute. Just two trees that represent the goal posts and there's a lot of yanking apples off the other trees and throwing them at each other. It's not exactly sophisticated or anything, but it is pretty fun.

As for teams, it's Ricia versus Nick and me. I'm a Chaser, Nick is Keeper. Ricia is playing both positions on her team and she's still beating us.

Ricia is the Seeker on the Gryffindor team and she's excellent. Nick can count on one hand the number of times he's flown. And while I really like flying, I can't play Quidditch to save my life. I can't take that kind of pressure—a thousand people watching you, waiting for you to mess up. No thanks.

Despite the lack of organization and fancy equipment, I like this version of Quidditch a lot more. It's a lot less stressful without an audience, or multiple people telling me what to do, what I should have done, where I need to be. I kind of like just taking shots in the dark and hoping for the best. Not having a referee makes things interesting, too.

However, I'll probably regret playing this game in a couple of hours. Because the apples, in addition to scoring points like the Quaffles, double as Bludgers. And they hurt surprisingly badly. I don't doubt I'll be covered in bruises tomorrow.

Nick has it worse than me. Since Ricia is aiming directly at him, he takes the bulk of the hits. Trying to spare him a bit of pain, she used a few apples from the ground that were half rotted, but much softer. The result? In addition to bruises, he's covered in bits of apple mush; it's smeared all across his arms and shoulders. His lip is bleeding from an apple Ricia accidently threw at his face. Oh, and I almost forgot: he is starting to smell like applesauce.

Good thing Mum is staying home from work today. If the game gets much tougher going to need her to heal us. She'll be very surprised to see the state we're in when we finally head back to the house. When I played with Lysandra, Tyson, and/or Luke, it was much more laid back. Ricia is more competitive than all four of us combined. And of course, Nick rises to her challenges, with the hope that he might beat her and so humble her a little bit.

**Chapter Twenty-Eight:**

I don't think Nick's attempt to humble Ricia will work. Ricia's got us thirty points to ten. Keep in mind, we don't count each score as ten points like in a real game of Quidditch. In our version, each score, well, apple hit, is only worth a single point. That's right. We've wasted more than forty apples for our amusement.

Please find a better use for them. They're too bitter to eat.

After a few hours, and roughly a dozen bruises each, Nick and I raise the metaphorical white flag and beg Ricia for mercy. She accepts and we head back to the house, leaving my yard in quite a terrible mess. It looks like we had a food fight instead of a Quidditch match. A food fight that involved only using barely solid baby food.

Despite losing spectacularly and feeling like I've been pelted with rocks, I'm happier than I have been in several weeks.

When we get into the house, Mum, who is sitting at the kitchen table, takes one look at us and burst out laughing. "I thought you were going to the yard to play Quidditch," she says.

"We did," I say, running my hands under the kitchen sink, trying to wipe the apple juice off. What I really need is a shower.

Mum stops smiling when she notices Nick's bloody lip. "What? Did you use Bludgers?" her voice grows sharper.

"No!" I say quickly, drying off my hands with paper towels. "I know the rules, Mum. We used apples. And Ricia throws like a fuh—"

"_Ross Benjamin Warren,_ watch your mouth," Mum hisses.

Uh-oh. The full name spiel. I don't get what the big deal is. She has said much worse in front of me. Although, to be fare, she was going through a great deal of physical pain when she said those words (Rhys and Rebekka were being born).

"We've got company," she adds in a gentler voice. She jerks her head slightly to the open door that leads to the panty. Now that I'm looking, I see Rhys has his head stuck in the cabinet, accompanied by another boy about his age that I don't recognize. But he's got dark green hair, so I have a pretty good idea who it is.

Teddy Lupin, grandson of one of Mum's coworkers and one of Rhys' best friends.

**Chapter Twenty-Nine:**

Sure enough, the boy turns and smiles up at me. In addition to his green hair, he also has central heterochromia—his eyes are a clear light blue, except for the hazel colored rings around his irises. While it looks really cool, it's also very unsettling. Which I'm sure is exactly what he wants. "Hi, Ross." That's Teddy's voice all right.

Teddy Lupin's a Metamorphmagus, meaning he's got the ability to change his appearance at will, without using a wand or Polyjuice potion. I know it's terribly sick for someone at my age to be jealous of a six year old, but… I can't help it. I am. I would do almost anything for that kind of power. His mother had the same ability and she was an Auror. I had only met her a couple of times, but she always said the ability made disguising herself so easy.

Over the past couple of years, since Teddy got control over his abilities (when he was really little, his appearance changed on its own, or sometimes on accident when he was making funny faces or sneezed too hard), he's made it his mission to somehow look different each day. Usually he changes his hair- in length and color, or the shape and color of his eyes, but sometimes his nose, too. He usually prefers weird things, too. Like blue, green, and orange hair in every different shade imaginable, or giving himself two different colored eyes.

Mrs. Tonks says he gets that from his mother, who apparently calmed down on her appearance later in life. Since most of my memories of her consist of purple or pink hair, that must be saying something.

I step away from the sink and walk over to the pantry where the dustbin is kept and throw my paper towel away. Ricia and Nick quickly start elbowing each other, fighting over who gets to use the sink next. In the typical evil older brother fashion, I push Rhys out of my way and start looking for where the Bruise Removal Paste from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes is kept. I grab three jars, one each for me, Nick, and Ricia.

"Let's see how these heal us up. If we're still hurting, I'm sure that Mum can fix us up," I say, turning around.

Oh great. Ricia's got Nick in a headlock and he's flailing his arms helplessly. At first I think that maybe he just doesn't want to accidently hurt Ricia by breaking away, but then I hear him trying to catch his breath. Goodness, Ricia's quite scary. I mean, Lysandra's not exactly overly girly; she never dresses up or wears make up and is known to occasionally smack Tyson or me when we do something stupid, but I don't think she'd ever put anyone in a headlock.

I glance over at Mum, who is staring at Ricia with her mouth hanging open in a slightly horrified but definitely amused way.

"Don't you know the meaning of ladies first?" Ricia asks between clenched teeth.

"You…" wheezes Nick in a barely audible way, "…are no… lady. Come on, Ricia... You've already… thrown all that crap at me today. Let me wash up first."

I don't know whether to laugh or cry. "All right, all right, break it up." I grab my wand. "I got a better idea."


	10. Ch 30 to 32

**Chapter Thirty:**

Ricia turns to me, catches sight of my wand and immediately releases Nick. "I wasn't actually hurting him," she says in defense. They both take a few steps backwards.

"I'm not going to hex you," I say, laughing. "Let's go back outside." I turn back to the door, leading the way. Nick and Ricia quickly follow.

Back outside in the yard, I keep walking until I find a spot with a lot of room, no rotting apples underfoot, no picnic table or lawn chairs. Once I find a bit of space that is clear, I turn to face my friends, both looking curiously at me and occasionally glancing at each other.

"What are we doing?" asks Nick.

"This," I say casually. Even though I'm now somewhat scared of Ricia, I aim my wand at her. I decide that Nick has been picked on enough today. As quickly as possible, before she can step out of the way or react, I shout, "_Aguamenti_!"

Ricia shrieks as the water hits her, and Nick bursts out in disbelieving laughter. Ricia laughs, too as she wipes water out of her eyes. She pulls her wand out of her sleeve. "I misjudged you, Warren, you've got guts."

Grinning, I take another shot at her. Of course she's expecting it this time and ducks. Stupid Quidditch players and they're quick reflexes.

"Oohoohoo, you're in trouble now!" She's retaliates immediately and Nick get out his wand, too. I should have known that they would double team me. I duck and the result is that all the water dumps on my head.

And just like that, all hell breaks loose and it's not long before Ricia, Nick, and I are in the midst of a furious battle.

I wonder if we look anything like my Muggle neighbors, who are well-known throughout the village for their annual water gun fight every summer. We're acting pretty similarly, though instead of guns, we have wands.

After about ten minutes of laughing and shouting and getting completely drenched, we get the attention of Rhys, Rebekka, and Teddy. All three of them have come outside to investigate. And of course, they beg to join in with us. Since they're all too young to have wands, we divide into teams: Nick and Rhys, Ricia and Teddy, and Rebekka and me. The battle just became a war.

**Chapter Thirty-One:**

So my plan worked. All the water from our fight has effectively cleaned away all of the apple mush from our "Quidditch" game. However, it also backfired slightly. See, the war got more intense than I had anticipated.

A lot of diving for cover occurred. And tripping. And slipping on lots of mud and wet grass. And getting pushed.

Long story short, all six of us are muddy and the knees of all our jeans have grass stains on them. On a positive note, it is still so unbelievably hot out that we're going to dry off rather quickly. At least we won't drip all over the floor in the kitchen.

We go down to the last few feet of the back yard that hasn't been completely destroyed by us today (at least not yet), and lay back in the on the ground, staring up at the sun. We're too tired to talk at first. After about ten minutes, Rebekka starts pointing out different shapes in the clouds and soon we're all trying to find interesting things.

"Look!" Rhys points straight above him. "That one looks like a lion."

"Is that as sign we've got a future fellow Gryffindor on our hands?" asks Nick, who has his eyes closed, like he's ready to fall asleep at any moment.

"Eh," I say. I almost shrugged, but then I remembered that Nick had his eyes shut and wouldn't be able to tell. "Dad was a Hufflepuff, Mum was a Ravenclaw. I'm a Gryffindor. Five bucks that Rhysie here is the first family Slytherin."

"I am not!" Rhys looked worried.

"Hey," says Ricia sharply. "I've got a cousin who's a Slytherin. He's a pretty good bloke. And there's a Muggle born girl in Slytherin the year below us. I like her. They're not all bad."

"Yeah," I chime in. "There used to be rumors that Harry Potter was Slytherin's heir. You don't want to be like Harry Potter?"

"Yeah, well Harry Potter isn't actually Slytherin's heir. I got bored once and read your copy of _Hogwarts, A History_. It talks about how it was Voldemort that was the heir. He left behind a diary that—"

"Okay, one, you must have been really, really, _really_ bored to read one of my textbooks," I say, turning slightly to look at Rhys. "Two, enough with the history lesson. I'm done with History of Magic and I don't plan on taking any kind of a similar class again."

"There was Severus Snape," Teddy suddenly adds."He was a Slytherin. Everyone thought he was a Death Eater, but he was actually on our side all along. Harry made sure that Snape got his Headmaster's portrait hung up at school and Harry told me once that Snape was one of the bravest people he ever met."

Nick's eyes snap open. He actually sits up and turns to look at Teddy. "You've met Harry Potter?

**Chapter Thirty-One:**

"I've met Harry a few times," says Teddy, not quite meeting Nick's eyes. Rhys and I both laugh at the same time, in the same way. Huh. I never noticed we had the same laugh before.

"Harry Potter is his _godfather_," I say. "Their parents were long time friends. Teddy's dad was Harry's mentor. Wasn't he, Teddy? He taught Harry how to make a Patronus when he was only thirteen-years-old."

Teddy grins in a proud way, the way he only does when someone brings up his parents, both of whom had died in the Second War when Teddy was only a few months old. "Yeah," he says shyly. "That's what Harry told me, at least."

Nick just stares like he can't believe it. He looks at me. "Have you met Harry Potter? And don't talk about that time he came to talk in our Defense Against the Dark Arts class last year, that definitely doesn't count as meeting!"

"Yeah, sometimes we invite Teddy's family over for dinner," Rhys cuts in brightly, sitting up as well. "And Teddy' family just so happens to include Harry and Ginny Potter."

"You've met Ginny Potter, too?" Ricia asks, sitting up. Ginny is a professional Quidditch player, for the Holy Head Harpies, which is Ricia's favorite team.

"Yeah!" Rhys says, enthusiastically. "She's funny, almost as sarcastic as Ross! And her niece, Vic-Something-French, is friends with Rebekka…"

"Victoire!" Rebekka corrects huffily.

"Don't brag, Rhys. It's a highly unattractive hobby," I mockingly scold. I've been known to brag a few times myself. I really can't talk. "It's not like we've met Merlin or any of his relatives."

Nick and Ricia both look dumbfounded as Rhys and I continue to shove at each other. "Nah, just the guy who saved the world when he was our age," says Ricia.

"Stuff like this makes me wish I had siblings," says Teddy absentmindedly, watching my brother and I "fight." He smiles wistfully. "You've always got someone to spend time with, or fight with…"

"You can have Rhys, I'll keep Rebekka," I say. "How's that for a deal?"

"I'd take it if I thought Grandma would let me keep him."

"I. Am. Not. A. Pet," says Rhys, clearly irritated.

At that point, we decide it's time to head in. The sun is going to start setting soon, anyway. As we head in through the kitchen, we find that Mum's still sitting at the table, this time joined by Teddy's grandmother. Guess she's here to take Teddy home.

As we head up the stairs to get clean clothes, I hear Missus Tonks say, "It's nice of your son and his friends to play with the little ones."

"No," says Mum laughing. "I think it's probably the other way around."

**Chapter Thirty-Two:**

As soon as Dad comes home from work, he warmly welcomes Missus Tonks and Teddy and insists they stay for dinner.

"We really shouldn't," says Missus Tonks politely. "You've already got guests, and you babysat Teddy for me today…"

Dad waves a hand. "Nonsense. The more the merrier. Also, it gives me a good excuse to make steak!" He has a gleeful smile on his face as he flicks his wand, causing the kitchen table to extend long enough to fit all of our guests.

Like me and Dad, Teddy likes his steak rare. Although, he has a very different reason. Teddy's father, in addition to being Harry Potter's mentor, was also a werewolf. For the most part, this hasn't really had any effect on Teddy, minus the rare steak thing. Well, one time he told me that he often had the urge to howl at the moon, but I'm pretty sure he was joking.

Although, now as we're eating dinner and I watch him tear apart his steak like a hungry dog (with a savagery no six-ish-year-old should possess), I'm not so sure anymore.

Dinner is always a fast-paced affair in my house, sit down, shovel it up as quickly as possible, get seconds, then get out. Ricia and Nick, who haven't gotten the chance to learn that yet, eat at a much slower pace than I do and make polite conversation with Mum and Mrs. Tonks. They're still picking idly at their first helpings while Dad, Rhys, Rebekka, Teddy, and I are all making our way through seconds. Or in Rhys' case, thirds. May I present Rhys Warren, the Human Black Hole?

I finish eating in about ten minutes. I yawn. I'm feeling very tired from all the food. Rhys and Teddy finish up their dinners not long after that. They immediately start asking the adults for permission to let Rhys hang around Teddy's house for the next couple of nights.

Without too much whining and begging, Mum and Missus Tonks agree to let Rhys stay with Teddy for a few days. As long as Rhys promises to come home by August thirty-first and can see me off to school.

For the last time.

I'm still kind of in shock about the whole thing and I'm still having difficulty grasping the fact that this is my last year at Hogwarts. I just went school supply shopping for the last time and in a few days it will be the last time I'll take the train to Hogwarts. I can't believe I used to be in such a hurry to grow up. What's so good about being an adult? Responsibilities? Working a real job where you have to be the same place at the same time every day? Bills? I really don't see much appeal, except maybe independence. But that's kind of overrated.

I lean back in my chair and wait for Ricia and Nick to finish eating. I close my eyes.


	11. Ch 33 to 36

**Chapter Thirty-Three:**

_She doesn't even wait for the sun to fully set before setting off again. It's almost dusk but not quite. The woods around her are alight with a dim gold. It's possibly the most beautiful thing she has ever seen._

_Thanks to the sun, it's a lot easier to tell which direction is east and so she starts counting steps again. Trying to walk as quickly as possible without actually running. She knows that it is risky, traveling at this time of day—day not night!— but she has no other choice. She got derailed a few nights ago and lost almost a whole night's worth of walking. She should have arrived at the camp two nights ago. They're probably worried._

_Luckily, she's walking with her back to sun. But even though it's not as bad as it could be, it's still pretty awful. She squints, biting her nail. The light is hurting her eyes slightly, but not too much. At least that's what she tells herself. _

_In a desperate attempt to shield her eyes, she puts her hood up. That helps a little bit, but it also blocks out some of her peripheral vision. She knows that this is also a dangerous thing to do. But it's even worse to damage her eyes._

_The sun would probably set in ten minutes, anyway. She just has to push through. And ignore the fact that this forest isn't exactly like the one at home. Sure, a Muggle couldn't find either one if their lives depended on it. But unlike here, Wizards aren't allowed where she lives. They are fined thousands of galleons from that Ministry of Magic if they so much set as one foot in there. That is, if they make it out of there. Which is pretty unlikely._

_Twenty steps, fifty steps, two hundred steps…. She forces herself to keep count as dusk finally settles. She takes her hood off. _

_Suddenly, she hears a voice cry out, "Laurel! Laurel!"_

_Laurel. Her name. She recognizes the voice, too. Her oldest sister. Laurel looks up and sure enough, there's Willow about fifteen yards away. Still as tall, blonde, and lovely as ever. Despite the fact that this is not the time or place, Laurel can't help feeling a little plain in contrast to her sister. Laurel's hair, cropped shoulder length and an inky black, is nowhere near as nice as her sister's silvery hair that reaches past her waist. Laurel's face is angled sharply, her sister's was much softer, delicate. Before she got married and moved out here, their father called her his little angel. Laurel, on the other hand, was always his little warrior. _

_Her sister's normally serious face is lit up in a graceful smile. Her eyes seem to glow slightly from what little light is left from the sun. "Oh, Laurel. I'm so glad you're okay. I've been worried sick about you. What's kept you?"_

_"Willow!" Laurel calls out, her voice a mixture of confusion, relief, and happiness, forgetting all about steps and numbers. "Willow, what are you doing here?"_

**Chapter Thirty-Four:**

_Laurel and Willow close the distance between them and hug for the first time in about six months. The top of Laurel's head just barely reaches above Willow's shoulders. "What are you doing here?" Laurel repeats as she and Willow let go._

_"I came to find you, of course," Willow says kindly, brushing hair away from Laurel's face. "I don't think someone as young as you shouldn't be wandering on her own in any case. When you didn't show up on Tuesday, that's when I really started to panic."_

_"I'm almost nineteen," Laurel reminds her. "I'm plenty old enough."_

_"If your age still ends in "—teen" you aren't old enough for anything." Willow brings her sister in for a hug again. "You don't understand. You're the youngest; you've never had to have to worry about someone before. Once you have children of your own, maybe you'll understand us over protective siblings a bit more."_

_"How are Jasper and Jade?" Laurel asks. Her niece and nephew, Willow's children, four and two respectively. Laurel's only been able to see them a few times._

_Willow smiles again and nudges Laurel in the forearm to start walking. Laurel winces slightly, but thankfully Willow doesn't notice. "Amazing, incredible. There's nothing like it. They're growing up too quickly. How's Sequoia and Ash?" Willow presses, referring to their sister and brother._

_"Fine." _

_"And Father?"_

_"Same ol' same ol'. And what about Pyrite?" Laurel asks. "Does your husband know that you're skulking off in the night on your own?"_

_"I'm not sulking. I'm searching for my sister. And that reminds me; you didn't answer me earlier. You were supposed to arrive two days ago. What happened?"_

_Laurel shrugs. "Getting off the Knightbus was easier said than done."_

_"Really?" Willow's voice sounds more than just surprised. But she can't know about what happened. That would be bad. "They normally can't wait to be rid of… those like us."_

_"Yeah, that's what I thought, too," Laurel says quickly, letting her voice descend to a whine. "But there was this old woman named Madam Marsh. She was vomiting everywhere and the driver was trying to get her to get off the bus quickly, but she was so motion sick she couldn't say where she wanted to go. It was a mess."_

_While this story is true, it's not exactly the reason Laurel didn't arrive on time. Willow turns to her sister, perhaps attempt to dig out the truth, but she's distracted by distant screaming. Willow and Laurel share a look and break out into a run._

**Chapter Thirty-Five:**

I hear something, from very far away. It's so faint, I can't quite make it out. Someone is yelling. Actually, it's several someones. I pause, trying to listen. After a couple of moments, it gets a little louder and a little clearer.

"Ross? Ross? Can you hear me? Wake up! Ross. Wake up!"

Someone is slapping me in the face. Admittedly, whoever it is, is not hitting me that hard, but still. Rude, rude, rude. This is without a doubt, one of the worst ways to wake up.

Eventually, it takes a lot of effort, but I manage to open my eyes. I can make out my parents' faces floating above me. Ricia and Nick are there, too. My siblings, Mrs. Tonks and Teddy are a little farther back, looking apprehensive.

I take a moment, trying to find my voice. "Er…" I sound sort of stuffy; like I have a little bit of a cold. "Is there any reason everyone's staring at me?" I ask, a little groggy. I hear my mother breathe a sigh of relief.

Where I am? I scan the room and finally see the familiar white colored walls, the ceiling slightly cracked with age. Wait…I'm in the kitchen. On the floor.

This is weird.

"What happened?" I ask. I sit up slowly, expecting to feel dizzy or sick. I don't. I feel fine. A little bit sleepy, but that's all.

"We thought you thought you passed out at the table," says Ricia. "But on closer inspection, you were just fast asleep. Snoring like a Basilisk. You wouldn't wake up, though. That scared us a bit."

"Do Basilisks snore?" I ask, leaning against the wall, just for good measure. I really do feel fine. "When did you ever meet one, sleeping or not?"

"I haven't," Ricia admits. "But it says in _Fantastic Beasts_ that they're known to take fifty year long naps, so I figure it's a good comparison."

"Are you sure you're all right, son?" asks Dad, looking squirmy.

"I'm fine," I say honestly. To prove it, I stand up. No dizziness. That's a good sign. "I only got a couple of hours of sleep last night," I explain. "I couldn't fall asleep until it was really late and I woke up really early. I guess I was just exhausted."

I hope that's all it is. I try not to dwell on the dream about that girl. The second dream in a row I've had about her. Laurel.

**Chapter Thirty-Six:**

My little incident at dinner caused Mum to decree that we all go to bed early tonight. Dinner was effectively ruined and Mrs. Tonks politely thanked Mum and Dad for their hospitality and whisked Rhys and Teddy away and back to her house.

Nick and Ricia pretty much decided that we'd take it easy the rest of the night and not do anything violent like throw stuff at each other's faces or have a water war. Mum heavily hinted that we ought to go to bed by eleven o'clock. She reminded us that school starts in three days and we better get back in the habit of going to sleep on time.

Spectacular.

Now I'm sprawled out on the couch while my friends camp out on the floor. I had said that it wasn't very good host-ish of me to take the couch, but both Nick and Ricia insisted. I tried to remind them that I'm not sick or anything, but they both told me to shut up. But still, I feel a little guilty when I glance over at them and they're lying on hardwood floor.

We're listening to a new weekly program on the Wizard's Wireless. I'm not quite getting to all of it because I'm still very tired. But it seems as if they've adapted one of my favorite comics—the Adventures of Martin Miggs the Mad Muggle—into a radio show, different actors reading each different character. From what I can tell, no one sounds like they're reading lines, which is good enough acting for me. Once in a while someone says something funny and the three of us all laugh quietly, but otherwise we don't speak.

Occasionally, I feel myself start to nod off, but I always shake myself out of it.

I'm a little bit scared to fall asleep, now.

It's not that I'm scared to dream about that girl, although, it is a little freaky that I dreamt about her twice in a row. It's not a nightmare. Nothing is coming to get me. I just feel a little unsettled by her.

What I really don't like is the idea that I had a difficult time waking up. Not being able to wake up means you're dead. Usually. Or in a coma, which is sorta like being dead. Since you're still belly up and not aware of your surroundings. But on a plus side you're breathing, and supposedly there's a chance that you can hear. Nice.

After about fifteen minutes, my eyes can't stay open anymore. I sigh in defeat and I let them close, but I shift on the couch in a way that causes one of the springs to dig into my back. It's not excruciating pain or anything, but it does hurt enough that I won't be able to sleep like that. Well, I thought so at least. It looks like I was wrong.


	12. Ch 37 to 40

**Chapter Thirty-Seven:**

_Laurel and Willow finally reach the camp—a small uneven circle of cottages in the forest clearing. However, Laurel realizes she's not about to have the happy family reunion she was hoping for. Just the opposite: It's chaos. Everyone is screaming, crying, or cursing as they run back and forth between the small cottages._

_As Laurel gazes upon the scene, she's forced to admit she never really understood the meaning of the word Chaos until that moment. _

_Someone knocks into her. "What happened here? What's going on?" Laurel asks him. Without answering her, or apologizing, the man hastily pushes past her, calling out the names of what Laurel can only assume are his family and friends. _

_Laurel looks around, trying to see if there's someone else to ask. Something in the center of the camp hurts her eyes. She squints._

_Oh. _

_Despite their aversion to light, there's a large bonfire in the heart of the camp. A strong acrid smell tells Laurel that there's more than just wood burning. That can only mean one thing: humans have been here. And recently._

_Willow instantly panics. She joins with others, racing back and forth between the houses, looking for loved ones. Willow starts calling out the names of her husband and children. Heart racing and unsure what to do, Laurel hovers awkwardly by the fire, trying to ignore the twisted, blackened masses that were once human men. _

_After what seems like an eternity, Laurel's nephew, Jasper, makes his way out of the nearby woods, shouting frantically for his mother. It's been several months since Laurel saw him last. She almost doesn't recognize him, he's grown so much. Last time she saw him, he needed help standing. He's walking on his own now. _

_Willow lets out a relieved sigh and scoops Jasper up in her embrace. She murmurs something Laurel doesn't quite catch, but it sounds a lot like, "I'm never letting you out of my sight again. Ever!"_

_Not long after this, Pyrite, Willow's husband, storms out of the woods not far from where Jasper emerged. He looks furious. Laurel notices he's holding something. A child. An unmoving, broken child. _

_Jade._

_Laurel's heart just about breaks as Willow starts sobbing. _

_Laurel looks away, feeling tears in her own eyes, certain her niece is dead._

**Chapter Thirty-Eight:**

_Laurel can't bring herself to look back at her sister and her family. She bites her lip and hangs her head. _

_"Jade! Oh, Jade," Willow barely chokes out her daughter's name. Taking a deep breath, and even though she doesn't want to, Laurel turns back to her sister. She's feels sick. What can she do? Or say? She has never felt this helpless in her entire life._

_But- _

_At the sound of her mother's voice, Jade shifts, very slightly. She mutters something. Half baby talk, half actual words. Too garbled to make anything out._

_Laurel breathes a sigh of relief—Jade's alive. She's alive! Thank goodness! Seeing that her daughter is still alive, Willow can finally catch her breath. She manages a shaky smile. _

_ Their joy is short lived, however. _

_Jade turns her small face away from her father to look at her mother and aunt. Laurel gasps, a little from surprise, but mostly she is horrified. Willow stands there, momentarily stunned until her hands fly up to her mouth and she starts crying again. _

_Jade's eyes are blistered and scabbed and can only open part way. What little of her formally green irises that show are milky white. She's been blinded._

_Blinking back tears, Willow reaches out for Jade. Pyrite gingerly hands her over to his wife, looking grim. Much, much more serious than Laurel had ever seen her normally laughing and joking brother-in-law before. _

_Willow hugs her daughter to her, sobbing incoherently into Jade's hair. Jade's face peers up over her mother's shoulder. She stares at Laurel, unseeingly._

_Willow clearly can't speak, so Laurel decides to ask the question for her. "What happened to Jade?" she whispers, her voice breaking slightly._

_"Humans," Pyrite spits out. "Wizards. Three of them raided on us. They attacked about an hour ago." He pulls something out of his pocket—a wadded up cloth. "One of them put these over her eyes!" He throws the cloth down on the ground with somewhat unnecessary force. The cloth falls open, revealing two silver coins. _

_Laurel stares at the little bits of silver, a deadly poison to her and her kind. She understands why humans fear them—the vampires. But to attack a little girl, one barely past infancy? To permanently blind her? Laurel is furious. She pulls one of her daggers from her belt and throws it with all her might at the nearest tree. She sinks to the ground, sobbing into her hands._

**Chapter Thirty-Nine:**

I wake up with a sudden jolt. I even sit bolt upright in bed. Wait, couch, I sit upright in couch. On couch. Whatever. The point is, I realize that I'm still in the living room. Nick and Ricia are sound asleep on the floor.

I also realize that I feel absolutely sick to my stomach. What the bleeding hell happened last night? All those other dreams that I had about Laurel had been just that—dreams. Weird, kind of boring, and very long dreams.

Last night had been nothing short of a nightmare.

The screaming, the burning humans, the blinded vampire kid… I shudder, trying to ward off a comparison to that little girl's eyes and the drawings I've seen of Dementors' faces in my Defense Against the Dark Arts books. Disgusting, disturbing, de-lovely.

Poor little girl. She was younger than Rebekka.

I still feel sick. I'm not talking figuratively. I mean literally. I actually want to vomit. I head upstairs to the bathroom. I'll spare you the details of that little venture. Anyway, after I finish with that, I feel a little better. But it's definitely going to take more than a little puke to make me forget about that kid's scarred up eyelids.

I go up to my room and get some of my potion ingredients, preparing to make a mild sleeping draft. As an added perk, it's a kind that is supposed to block out bad dreams. Once it's done, I check my watch. It's 4:27 AM. I will definitely be drinking all of it.

As I head back to the living room, I start chugging down the potion the way a nogtail might down pig's milk. Feeling a little dazed, I crash down on the couch. By the time I'm finished with the potion, I'm so tired I can barely sit up long enough to drop my empty cup on the coffee table.

I lie back and close my eyes, hoping against hope that since this stupid potion has clearly made me tired, it will also block out any tortured vampires and frying humans from my mind. At least, I certainly hope so. I'm starting school soon, don't I deserve a break?

My leg is cramped, slightly, so I stretch out. Then I remember that the couch is not nearly long enough and my legs slide over the armrest and dangle over the side.

I'm too tired to really care.

**Chapter Forty:**

This is, without question, The Most Boring Dream, Ever. I don't merely mean _my_ most boring dream ever, although it most definitely is. Oh no. I feel quite safe in saying that this is the most boring dream that has ever been had by anyone.

Ever. In the history of the entire world. Wizards and Muggles alike. Actually, I take the Muggle bit back. They don't qualify. Know why? I don't even think Muggles are capable of dreaming up something that is this _supernaturally_ boring. I don't care what you think, the fact is, you've got to have magical aid for this kind of torture device.

I've been literally staring at empty blackness for the past several hours. That's it. Nothing else has happened. It's worse than watching grass grow. At least grass is green. And sometimes it moves in the wind.

Time has been passing painfully slowly. At first, I figured that I was still awake, just with my eyes shut. But no. I can't open my eyes. I can't make myself move, but every once in a while, I'll feel myself shift in the way one does when one is asleep.

I'm honestly just dreaming. Dreaming about stupid, empty blackness. I'm dreaming about a chalkboard that hasn't been written on yet.

How riveting.

Suddenly, I'm brought out the abyss ever so slightly. I smell something. My eyes finally snap open. Nick is leaning over me, waving a biscuit over my face. "Morning, sunshine," he says brightly when he notices I'm awake.

Without sitting up, I reach up and snatch the roll from him. I'm starving. Surprisingly enough, staring at empty, dark abyssness for several hours can really take a lot out of you. I eat the whole thing in one bite. Nick looks slightly appalled.

"Thanks, Nick," I try to say. It sounds more like an angry cat being strangled, though, since my mouth is so full.

"Um… sure," says Nick, sounding uncertain.

And now, Ricia waltzes into the room, clutching an envelope. She waves it in front of my face. Breakfast, getting my mail… what service!

"Are you feeling better, Ross? You slept a long time. It's after ten. Enjoy _that_ while you can. School starts day after tomorrow." She drops the envelope on my face. "You've got a letter," she adds. "It's from Lysandra."


	13. Ch 41 to 46

**Chapter Forty-One:**

"I kind of wanted to read it," Ricia confesses casually, glancing at the letter she just threw at me. "But Nick threatened to put a curse on my hair and make it fall off." She clutches a few strands of her shiny dark hair for effect.

"Nice," I say to Nick. I'm surprised—and a bit impressed- that he threatened her. He smiles at me. "She's too nosy."

Ricia scoffs. "Oh, bella Madonna," she mutters with a heavy Italian accent. She sounds like she did in first year. I forgot how strong her accent used to be. "You know, in Venice, boys don't threaten to curse girls' hair."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. We know all about how much better things are in Venice," says Nick, sounding impatient. "Your dad's English. Your last name is Walter for Merlin's sake. And so your parents sent you to your dad's old school. Get over it already. Hogwarts is the best magical school in Europe. That's a fact."

"Shut. Up," says Ricia. "I'm still hungry. Give me your other cinnamon roll."

"No!" shouts Nick, which promptly starts them off in a fight.

I make sure Ricia and Nick are completely occupied before I open the envelope. I carefully unfold Lyssie's letter and spread it out on my knees.

_Hi Ross, _

_I guess I'll just leap into it. I noticed things were a little weird the other day in Diagon Alley. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. It wasn't very nice of me not to tell you about me and Tyson. You've got every right to be mad at me; I've been a lousy best friend lately. I didn't mean to keep it from you. It was just… I don't know. Awkward I guess. Maybe I was worried you wouldn't approve, or something. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I was sorry. _

_I'll see you on Sunday!_

_Love always, _

_Lysandra_

I feel like day old dragon dung. Poor Lyssie. I hate that she thinks I'm mad at her. I sneak up to my room and write Lysandra a reply.

**Chapter Forty-Two:**

Once upstairs, I sit at my desk and scrawl out a letter to Lys.

It's short letter, only a few sentences. I tell her that I am not and never have been mad at her. I tell her that she isn't obligated to tell me anything about who she dates. I only half-lie as I explain that I found the sudden situation between two of my closest friends a little awkward. I just need to adjust.

Lie, lie, lie, lie. You liar. Lies.

I send the letter off with Pest, my owl, and go back downstairs.

Once back in the living room, I find that Nick and Ricia are no longer fighting. Instead, Ricia is simply trying to sweet talk Nick out of his last bit of breakfast. He's still adamantly refusing, but five sickles says he gives it to her.

"Please," Ricia pleads. "Please, please, please? You've had three whole biscuits and cinnamon roll, I've only had one of each."

Nick rolls his eyes and sighs, but he hands over the last cinnamon roll. "Fine, take it, you little Italian Horror."

Ricia laughs triumphantly in a maniacal sort of way. After a few seconds, she feels guilty and splits the roll in half and gives part of it back to Nick. He smiles at her just as Ricia notices that I've walked back into the room.

"Aha," she says. "Now that we have all eaten and we are gathered here together…" She stands up and pulls another envelope out of her pocket. " She flicks the letter open lazily and something slides into her outstretched hand. "I am officially the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team."

"Congratulations," says Nick brightly. "You told me Melissa Sullivan would be Quidditch captain, you little _lying_ Italian Horror."

"I thought she would be!" Ricia protested.

"Great, all our friends in other Houses are doomed, aren't they?" I say. "I get the feeling that they're going to be slaughtered."

Ricia laughs and says," No survivors!"

**Chapter Forty-Three:**

Today is the very last September first that I have to wake up at an obscenely early time to catch a certain train.

Wow.

It's such a weird thought. I vow right now that next year I will not work or do anything, or even get out of bed until after eleven o'clock. I will refuse to move until the Hogwarts Express has officially left Kings Cross.

Nick and Ricia wave goodbye to my family and say thank you for letting them stay for the past few days. They smile at me and tell me they'll see me later and they board the train. I stay behind for a few last words with my parents and siblings.

"Erm." I don't really like goodbyes, especially if they involve my mother. Especially right now since she looks like she's about to cry, or something.

"'Bye, Mum," I say, giving her an awkward hug. "I'll see you at Christmas." This effectively turns her into a weepy mess and she starts wailing about how her first baby's all grown up. I think it's safe to say that I will never grow up. Doesn't the fact that I'm wearing a tee-shirt that says "I'm an evil genius. You are just the village idiot!" prove that?

Dad gives me a one-armed hug and says, "You behave yourself, Ross. Don't mess up your last year at Hogwarts." He reaches up, way up, to mess up my hair. Grrrreeat. I had my hair almost looking sort of half way decent.

Rhys, who won't admit it, but hates goodbyes even more than I do, runs forward and punches me in the stomach then scurries to hide behind Mum.

"Bye, Rhys. I'll miss you, too."

Rebekka looks up at me and says, "You're going to leave me with Rhys?" I manage a laugh. "Do you really have to go?" she asks, looking at her little sneakers.

"Yeah," I say, feeling sad. I kneel on the ground so she can hug me. When Rhys has Mum and Dad distracted I tell her very quietly, "I'll try to sneak back and visit you. Okay, Becks? I'll send you an Owl and let you know." In a louder voice I add, "I'll be back at Christmas. That's not so far away. And Easter. And I'm sure Lara and Victoire will be around."

"I love you," Rebekka says.

"Me too," I say. She makes a sound of disgust and we both laugh. "Be a good girl," I tell her.

"If I must."

I've taught her well. I smile as I climb up on the train. Too late, I realize that since Nick and Ricia are gone, I don't have anywhere to sit. I take one last look at my family as the train starts moving.

**Chapter Forty-Four:**

"Midge!" I say in relief when I see Jenni holed up in one of the first compartments of the train. Strangely, she's by herself. She's got her head buried in a book called _Shrakes of Wrath_. I open the door and she looks up at my sometimes-nickname for her. I call her Midge sometimes, short for Midget. Even though she's actually a respectable height of five-four. But that's more than a foot shorter than me, so I feel justified.

"Look, Mum. A Troll," she says. But she grins and shuts her book.

"Behind on summer reading?" I ask.

She nods. "History of Magic, what else? A five hundred page book about how shrakes- you know those spiny fish that destroy Muggle fishnets?—were first created by vengeful wizards. It's slow death. Want to sit with me?" she adds, gesturing towards the empty compartment.

I nod and take a seat across from her, surprised by how much has changed.

Jenni and I were never exactly enemies. My sole enemy is and forever shall be Carse Hole. But we used to not like each other much. She's Lysandra's best friend after me, and I was always vaguely paranoid Lyssie would ditch me for her. In turn, Jenni thought I was the world's biggest prat.

But since the stuff with Tyson and Lysandra came up, Jenni and I formed an Alliance that pretty much states I ought to have Lys.

When I asked Jenni why she was on my side she said something along the lines of, "Imagine you had to sell your favorite gold watch. Who would you rather take the watch—someone who likes shiny things and occasionally wants to know what time it is, or someone who really loves the watch and will do anything to take care of it?"

I told her metaphors were stupid and she called me a moron. We've been friends ever since.

"Theeeey'er heeeeereee," says Jenni.

I sigh as the compartment opens to reveal Tyson and Lysandra, both smiling wildly, coming to sit with us. Tyson sits next to Jenni and Lysandra across from him. Next to me. Our knees practically touching. I gulp and glance over guiltily at Tyson who's got a huge smile on his face as he stares out the window.

I look back Lysandra, who is now reading the Quibbler, and not even noticing how close we are.

**Chapter Forty-Five:**

Tyson asks me about my last few days of summer break. I tell him about Ricia beating me and Nick in apple Quidditch and the water war.

I do not tell him about those weird dreams I keep having about Laurel. I had two more dreams about her the last two nights as well. Thankfully, they've gone back to being boring. She's just going back to wherever she came from, this time with her sister and her family, plus four other men. Well, males. Vampire males. They walked quite a bit, separated, took the Knightbus in twos and threes so not to freak out the humans. They reunited in a shipyard. They seemed to have spent the day in a boathouse, then set off in a stolen boat across the water. The little blind girl had dropped her toy somewhere in the ship yard and cried for hours. I woke up with a headache. Lovely, right?

Halfway through Jenni's rant about the school sending her a letter addressed to Jenny with a "Y" and not Jenni with an "I", the compartment door slides open again. It's Ricia.

"Hi, Ross," she says brightly. "Nick, our new Head Boy, ditched me for the prefect compartment. I normally sit with Melissa, but I can't find her. Mind if I sit with you?" She smiles hopefully.

"Yeah!" I say, a little too enthusiastically. "Luke's a prefect, so we're used to being ditched, too."

She plops down next to Tyson. For some reason, Lysandra grins him. Ugh, probably some in-joke between the two of them. Stop it, Ross. Tyson looks panic-stricken and edges away from her. Ricia doesn't seem to notice or mind. She's probably used to people being afraid of her.

What she does notice is what Jenni's reading. "Ugh! Shrakes of Death. I hate that book. I had to read it last year, too. Want the WandSpark Notes? I'm sure I've still got them in my trunk, I never throw anything away."

Jenni brightens. "Yeah, thank you!"

Ricia stands up and climbs up onto our seat and starts going through her trunk in the overhead rack. Lyssie scoots over to give Ricia room, leaning a little bit into me.

My heart speeds up a little. This is going to be a long train ride.

**Chapter Forty-Six:**

We've probably got another hour and a half before we get to school. I'm starving but I've already eaten all the food I bought from the trolley and half of everything Tyson bought _and _the sandwich Mum made me.

That's the other bad thing about being too tall. You have to eat. All the time. I'm like a bottomless pit. Sigh.

Lysandra catches my eye and smiles slightly at me. I smile back, wishing that Tyson was somewhere else. Without speaking, she offers me her last Cauldron cake, holding it out to me. Of course she knows that I'm hungry. I shake my head, though.

I'm bored. Luke hasn't showed up yet. He must be with Mariah, his girlfriend. Tyson's staring off into space. Jenni's still reading. Ricia's explaining her plans for Quidditch to Lysandra, who is one of the reserve Chasers for Gryffindor. But I know for a fact that Lyssie doesn't like playing organized Quidditch anymore than I do. She just does it sometimes to make her family happy. Both her parents and her two older sisters have been Chasers.

Suddenly, I hear the door to the compartment open. I'm sure it's Luke, so I turn around ready to verbally abuse him about ditching us. But I'm wrong. Very wrong.

It's Indina Joyce, the girl Luke thought I should ask out. Sweet Merlin, even if I was interested in her, I wouldn't stand a chance. She's one of the most beautiful people I've ever seen. She's tall, almost six feet when she wears those stupid shoes. Dark hair hangs down to her shoulders, big golden brown eyes, perfect white teeth, and a complexion the same color as tea. And a shiny prefect badge pinned to her shoulder. That's new.

"Hi, everyone!" she says brightly. She smiles and we wave at her.

"You've been made a prefect?" asks Ricia, politely.

"Yeah," says Indina. "Jenni didn't want to do it this year."

We all glance at Jenni, who's still got her face buried in the WandSparks Notes. Without looking up, she explains, "If I take an extra potions class, I can finish school the same time as the rest of you." Yes. Another Muggle born whose life was ruined by the Death Eaters. Next?

"I'll pretend I didn't see the WandSparks Notes. Shrakes of Wrath is awful." Indina smiles again. "I've got to go finish patrolling the corridors. I just thought I'd say hi. I'll see you all later." She turns and leaves. Once the door is shut, Jenni says, "If she rats on me, I'm dead."


	14. Ch 47 to 50

**Chapter Forty-Seven:**

The Welcome feast and the end-of-year feast are the only times where we sit according to house. Normally I'd only sit with Lysandra, but tonight Nick and Ricia, who brought Melissa, all come over. This is kind of nice. I am definitely glad I invited Nick and Ricia over this summer. Lysandra seems a little surprised, but doesn't object and asks Melissa about her break.

As soon as the last first year is finally seated at the Slytherin table, McGonagall says something that I don't exactly listen to and…. YES. It's finally time to eat.

As soon as the food appears, I start grabbing everything I can and wolf it down. Lunch seems like days ago rather than mere hours.

Ricia blinks at me. She looks at me, then at the staff table, then back at me again. "Are you_ sure_ your mum didn't have something with Hagrid? Come back and visit Hogwarts a few years after she left, you know? I mean…" Her eyes flick back to the high table where Hagrid is diving into his dinner at a speed that is equal to mine. "You're both freakishly tall; you eat the same way, have unruly hair… You going to grow a beard too?"

"Ha." How funny. How so very funny. At least she's smiling as she says it, and now I know that verbal abuse her way of showing affection. Oh well, it's nothing I haven't heard before. Except the beard thing. Which won't happen. I don't even know if I could grow one, to be honest.

"Don't be rude," says Nick. "How would you like it if I made thinly veiled references to your mother having an affair with Filch?"

Ricia splutters and spits out her drink.

Melissa and I laugh. Lysandra smiles, feeling a bit guilty.

"I thought so," Nick tells her smugly and goes back to his dinner.

"Shuddup," says Ricia. "That's totally different and you know it!"

"How?" asks Melissa.

Ricia rolls her eyes like we're missing something that's really obvious. "Um, maybe because we like Hagrid, so calling Ross his bastard is a complement. We hate Filch, so being his spwan would be a complete insult. Not to mention my mother didn't go to Hogwarts. She's never even met Filch."

"That you know of," says Melissa.

**Chapter Forty-Eight:**

_ "Laurel? Is that you?"_

_"Yes, Father," she says, running towards him. After everything that happened in the past couple of days, she's happy to see him. _

_He brings his youngest daughter into a hug. "You're home early than I expected," he murmurs. "I thought you would at least stay a few weeks with your sister…" Her father's voice trails away as he notices that Laurel is not alone. He smiles tentatively at his older daughter, Willow, and her children. He frowns slightly at Pyrite and the other males standing a little farther away. "What is going on? Why…?"_

_Willow steps forward._

_"Not that I'm not pleased to see you," he says quickly._

_"Cypress," says Pyrite, stepping forward, somewhat nervously greeting his father-in-law. "We felt it best that we come," his voice shakes slightly. "The night Laurel arrived at our home, we were raided by three wizards."_

_Cypress sighs. "I'm sorry to hear that. It happens sometimes. Is everyone all right?"_

_"No," says Pyrite, anger starting to build. "They killed a handful of us, including Phobos, Deimos' older brother." He gestures to one of the others standing next to him._

_"I'm very sorry to hear that," says Cypress again. _

_"And…" Pyrite's voice begins to shake. "They harmed one of our children. One of my children. Your granddaughter." _

_Cypress' eyes flicker towards Jade. Willow helps her turn her face towards Cypress so he can get a better look at her. He slowly takes in her appearance, staring at her damaged eyes like he cannot believe it. His eyes narrow. Even though he is not yelling or glaring or doing anything of the sort, he's furious. Laurel can tell. _

_"Why are you here?" asks Cypress, after a moment of painful silence. His voice sounds strained and strange. _

_"We didn't want Laurel to travel on her own," says Willow. "I was afraid for her."_

_"You are a good sister," says Cypress. "But surely only one or two of you would have sufficed as bodyguards?"_

_"I was thinking that maybe we ought to do something about this," says Pyrite, speaking quickly before he lost his nerve._

**Chapter Forty-Nine:**

_"Excuse me?" Cypress stares at Pyrite as if he just spoke another language to him. "You want to do something? Something to help Jade, you mean?" Judging from his tone, he clearly knows that is not what Pyrite means._

_"I was thinking that maybe we should do something about the raids," says Pyrite. He sounds nervous, but he keeps looking Cypress in the eye. Well, at least Cypress can respect him for that. "That's the second raid we have had in three years. We should go to the Ministry of Magic. Kingsley Shacklebolt is a good-for-noth-"_

_"Less than one raid a year," interrupts Cypress. His voice is calm. "I suppose you have forgotten what it was like before that wizard Kingsley Shacklebolt became the Minster of Magic? Raids on us happened at least once a week, if not more. And the wizards? They didn't come in threes." Cypress lets out a humorless laugh. "Oh no. They came by the dozens, killing us in great droves, even my wife."_

_There's a silence. Pyrite drops his gaze to the ground, at last._

_"Or the times of the Dark Lord? Who tried and failed to bring us into his war, who sent werewolves and Dementors after our children. Many of them died horrible, slow deaths. And that was what it was like _before _Kingsley Shacklebolt made it legal for us to do what we want with those who raid on us. Before, if we killed those who raided on us, we were deemed rogue vampires and they sent professional Vampire Hunters to kill us. Kingsley Shacklebolt has been good for a lot of things. You will not disrespect him again."_

_"If he's so great, why can't we use wands?" demands Pyrite, firing back up again. "That's why they keep killing us. They can get us at a farther range. We can only defend ourselves at close contact."_

_"Thousands of years of prejudice and hatred cannot be changed by one man alone, not even a man as good as Shacklebolt. I'm sorry about Jade, but there's nothing we can do."_

_"DON'T YOU GET IT!" Pyrite is screaming now. "They ruined her life! She's not yet three years old. They tortured her. They permanently blinded her. She will not remember what her mother looks like, or the sight of the stars and the color of the sky. She is going to have to be dependent on others her whole entire life! And you don't even care! She's your granddaughter." His voice breaks. "You don't even care," he repeats._

_Cypress lunges at Pyrite, pushing him up against a nearby tree. He's got Pyrite by the collar._

_Willow tugs at her hair, but otherwise doesn't do anything to stop her father. Laurel watches horrified. She had never seen her father so angry. Or so violent. Personally, she is on Pyrite's side. She wants these humans to pay, too._

_ "_Do not ever accuse me of not caring for Jade_," Cypress hisses. "But there is nothing we can do. And you are forgetting one thing, her life may be ruined (whether it actually is or isn't up to her). But at least she is still alive. "_

_At this Laurel can't keep silent any longer. "It wasn't just Jade they hurt." She turns to Willow. "The real reason I was a few days behind schedule? I was attacked by three humans on the way. I think they must have been the same ones." _

**Chapter Fifty:**

_At this, Willow lets out a little cry. "Laurel!" she shrieks. "Why didn't you tell me?" she demands. "I… we… could have…" _

_"Could have what?" Laurel demands, craning her neck slightly so she could look her taller sister in the eye. "By the time you found me, those wizards were already at the camp. Telling you would have only made you worry."_

_"For good reason!" screeches Willow._

_Cypress stares, dead-eyed, at his daughter as though he no longer recognizes her, his previous heartbreak now doubled. "What did they do to you?" _

_"Nothing." At the looks on her father's and sisters faces, Laurel adds, "Not that they didn't try. They shot a few spells at me, that I managed to dodge. They were laughing at me and closing in. I think at first they were just having a laugh at me, but after a while I must have made them mad enough that they actually wanted to hurt me," Laurel mutters. "But… I got away." _

_"How?" asks Pyrite._

_"Someone stopped them. Someone with a wand. A woman. She hexed them. Told them they were cowards. Then I ran." While Laurel's words a true, she is missing an important part of the story. The part where she talked to the person who saved her. At the thought, Laurel unconsciously clutches her forearm. Where she has a small, only partially healed gash._

_Of course, the human woman did not save Laurel for nothing. She wanted payment. It was her job to sell rare magical things. She asked one thing of Laurel in exchange for saving her life: her blood. Laurel had given it to her. What choice did she have? But she couldn't tell her father or sister. They were upset enough already. _

_Dead silence. Everyone one avoids eye contact with each other. _

_"You see?" says Pyrite after a moment or two. "If we don't do something, make an example, who's to say it won't happen again? Laurel was lucky. My own daughter wasn't. We need to stop this before anyone else's kids are hurt." _

_"All right. Laurel, take Jasper and Jade to one of the guest rooms and help them get ready for bed," says Cypress. "As for the rest of you, We're having a meeting tomorrow as soon as the moon is up. We'll get everyone together and decide what to do then."_


	15. Ch 51 to 53

**Chapter Fifty-One:**

Once again I wake with a start. I've been back at Hogwarts for several weeks now and I'm still having stupid dreams about Laurel. This is getting ridiculous. Maybe I should mention these weird dreams to Trelawney. She's a waste of space most of the time, but what other option is there? Who else knows about dreams in this place?

I could research. I could look up stuff in the library right now, actually, now that I think about it. I haven't put that Marauder's Map to any good use. I'm letting George down. I could easily use it to avoid Filch and other nonsense that sees fit to patrol the castle at night. Tomorrow's Saturday so I don't even have to be up early. Why not?

I sneak out of bed, making sure the others are asleep. I grab the Marauder's Map from its hiding place. I creep across the room and down the stairs. Once in the common room, I double and triple check that it's completely empty. I even make sure that no one is hanging around on the dormitory staircases. Once I'm 100 percent sure the room's deserted, I say the words that will make the map appear. Filch is on the fifth floor, but I can easily avoid him. No one else seems to be around. Peeves is in the Great Hall. Perfect.

I slip out of the common room, sweetly asking the Fat Lady to shut up. She huffs irritably but otherwise doesn't say anything.

I walk slowly, trying to balance watching the map and watching where my feet go. Last thing I need is to knock into something and make a racket. I had a bit of trouble on the fourth floor, ghostly Professor Binns was wandering around. I know there's very little chance that permanently out-of-it Binns would recognize me, but still, it's not worth the risk. I waited, crouched behind a hideous ornamental vase and waited 'til he drifted through the wall.

Once he was gone, I sprinted down the stairs and yanked open the door for the library. Ahha. I made it. I stalked between the shelves, grabbing every book that had "Dream" in the title. Dream Interpretation, Meaning of Dreams, What Do Your Dreams Say About You?, and a bunch of other dumb stuff. Teetering under a stake of books like I'm Hermione Granger or something. I'm about to get to the door when I have an idea. I feel my Evil Smile coming out. Two words: Restricted Section.

Despite being in seventh-year, I've never been given a pass to the Restricted Section. And I've always been vaguely curious. Here's my chance. I check the map one more time, making sure that no one's around. All clear. I step over the rope that divides the room. I don't really have any interest in reading them, I just want to be able to say that I've been here. I open a few random books and glance at the words on the page. I don't understand a lot of it. However, one word catches my interest: Nosferatu. I add the book to my stack. I open a few more books, but they're all weird and boring. Until I open a large black and silver book. That one screams. Loudly.

**Chapter Fifty-Two:**

I slam the book shut. "Shut up!"

"No!" snaps the book. It starts screaming again.

Damnit! I check the map. Sure enough, dots labeled "Argus Filch" and "Mrs. Norris" are headed towards the library. There's no way I can get out of here without getting caught. What to do? What to do?

"I hate you," I whisper to the screaming book as I glance around looking for somewhere to hide.

It stops screaming long enough to say, "Likewise. I was sleeping you know. You're so inconsiderate." It continues wailing. I check the map. Filch and Missus Norris are right outside the door. I throw the screaming book as far as I can across the Restricted Section. I pick up my heavy stack of dream books and stagger under their weight. It's fine, I tell myself. I can easily avoid Filch and his horrid cat with the map. I run into the Invisibility Section. I carefully set the books on the floor and lean as close to the shelf as possible. I watch Filch and Norris run by.

Thankfully, since the book is still screeching, they head for the Restricted Section. Once they're over the line, I wipe the map clean and pick the books up again. I run at breakneck speed towards the library door. All but tripping over my feet, I run up the stairs, lamenting the fact that I can't check the map. All I can do is pray. Finally, I make it to the seventh floor and see The Fat Lady. I just about cheer.

"Carpe Diem, Carpe Diem!" I whisper hoarsely, peering up at her over my swaying tower of books.

The Fat Lady rolls her eyes but since I am a Gryffindor and gave her the password, she has to let me into the common room.

Once inside, I set my books on the nearest table and slump down in one of the chairs, letting my heartbeat return to normal. I take deep breaths and pick up the first book and start scanning the index. The closest thing I find is a section on recurring dreams.

"Well, this is weird. Ross Warren staying up late to do homework?"

I let out some sort of strangled yelp of surprise and drop the book and swivel around. Lysandra. Of course.

She's sitting on the staircase that leads to the girls' dormitory. There's a book balanced on her knees. It looks more like a novel than a textbook. Figurers.

"I forgot about a dream project for Divination."

"Yeah, right. Tell me the truth."

**Chapter Fifty-Three:**

I sigh and stand up. There's no point in lying to Lysandra. Lysandra closes her book as I take a step towards her. "I've been having dreams lately. And they're starting to worry me."

"You're having nightmares?" Lysandra asks.

"No," I mutter. "They're not nightmares. They're not scary. Well one of them was kind of horrible. But mostly they're just… weird. And horribly long winded. Like you know how dreams usually go by really quickly?"

Lysandra nods.

"These dreams last for hours. And sometimes I wake up feeling dizzy and sick."

"What are they about?" she asks, concerned.

"Well, they're about… this girl."

"Oh."

"It's not any girl I know," I say quickly. "I don't know who she is." I take another step towards Lysandra, one foot on the staircase. _What am I doing_?

I'm not asking this question for any kind of sane reason, like the fact that Lysandra and I are just friends. That she's dating Tyson. That I'm an idiot.

I'm asking this because I let myself for one second forget that the staircase to the girls' dormitories is boy-proof. The staircase lets out a loud metallic wail and melts away. My foot slips out from beneath me and I go sprawling face-first on to the newly made slide. Lyssie tumbles down the stairs as well and our heads clunk together.

We fall and land in a heap on the floor of the common room.

Ow.

Lysandra and I attempt to disentangle ourselves. And that's when I hear them. Half of the Gryffindors were woken up by the stupid stairs and now they've come to laugh at us. I help Lyssie stand up and I hear a wolf whistle. I turn and see Ricia, grinning down at us. She's standing on the slide, holding on the railings for support. She leans forward, letting her feet dangle as she leers at us.

"What have we here?" she laughs. "Tyson's going to be jealous." Her tone sounded approving.

"She's right," I whisper to Lysandra, glancing at the other students poking their noses out of their dormitories. "Everyone's going to talk about this."

I go back over to the table and pick up my stack of books. I make my way back over the boys' dormitory.

"Ross, Tyson is—"

I leave before she finishes. I don't want to hear about Worthless Idiot right now.


	16. Ch 54 to 58

**Chapter Fifty-Four:**

_"Laurel. What a weird place to sit."_

_Laure glances tears her gaze away from the window and looks down at Pyrite from her perch on the windowsill. It _is _a weird place to sit. In order to keep her balance, she has to sit in a most uncomfortable position, one foot pressed against the window facing, the other dangling over the edge, both hands gripping the edge of the windowsill. But she loves the view. She always has. From up here she can see the sky between the trees. _

_"You're up late, aren't you?" he asks. "It's nearly sunrise." _

_"I'm not tired," she says. She pauses. "I…" She tries and fails to smile at her brother-in-law. "I'm sorry about the way my father acted about Jade. I thought that he…" she trails away. "But maybe when we have a meeting tomorrow…"_

_"Oh, I just had a conversation with him right now," says Pyrite, glancing out the window to see what Laurel is looking at. After a few seconds, he gets bored and turns away._

_"You did?" Laurel can't hide the surprise in her voice. Braver and stronger wouldn't go up against her father a second time. "What did he say?" _

_ "After explaining it to him better, he agrees with me." Pyrite leans against the wall and slinks down to the floor._

_"Really?" asks Laurel, impressed. Her father was rarely one to change his mind. Laurel shifts positions so that her back is against the window and both feet dangle over the side. "You must be damned good at persuading."_

_"It's a talent that comes and goes…" he says with a brave attempt at smile. "We're still going to have the meeting tomorrow, though. Just to make sure everyone else is willing to take a stand. But I don't see why they wouldn't be. Aren't you tired of living like a prisoner?"_

_Laurel nods._

_"We've got to do something about it," Pyrite insists. _

_"I know. I'm sure everyone else feels the same way. Especially if you show them what happened to Jade. If they get scared for their own kids…"_

_Pyrite nods. "Yeah. Now come on, get away from the window before the sun comes up. The last thing we need to deal with right now are burns."_

**Chapter Fifty-Five:**

I leave the common room before anyone wakes up. Hopefully if I'm not around, they'll forget about last night.

I take my backpack with some of the books and try to research a little bit. I sit by the lake for an hour or two until Luke comes to get me and drags me away to get something to eat.

Luke and I sit down for breakfast with Melissa, Jenni, and a Slytherin sixth-year named Shanna. It seems that the three of them are discussing how they figured out that they were witches. I smile. I've heard Jenni's story about five or six times and it never gets old.

"So, I'm seven-years-old, riding my bike for the first time and this completely horrid girl was chasing after me," says Jenni, well rehearsed from telling this story over and over. "Her name is Skylor Hilton and she hates me, you see. And she had a whole group of her little minions on tricycles not far behind her. They're gaining on me."

Shanna scowls. "No one believes me when I say little children are vicious."

Melissa shoots her a look as if to say, "Don't interrupt."

Jenni plows on, "I'm wishing more than anything I had a way to escape them. And suddenly, boom! The bike takes off from the ground, I'm soaring through the air- the kids drop their bikes and stare up at me, screaming, "E.T.! E.T.! EEEEE-TEEEEEEEEEEE! When I landed, they worshiped me as an alien queen for about thirty minutes before someone from Accidental Magic Reversal Squad came and modified their memories."

All of us laugh, except Luke, who doesn't know what E.T. is. I tried showing him the movie once on my grandmother's television set, but he couldn't get past the concept of a "prune that spoke like he'd been heavily confounded…"

"That's hilarious," says Annika. "My story isn't nearly as good as that. I noticed that every time my teacher announced we were having a quiz, the fire alarm would go off. And I think I blew up a toaster once. I'm not sure."

"My dentist would get shocked every time he tried to work on my teeth," offers Melissa. "And I once I made water boil. Useful when the power went out."

"What's a dentist again?" asks Luke. "I know you've mentioned it before…"

Luke doesn't finish is sentence as Tyson and Lysandra take seats beside us.

"What are we talking about?" Tyson starts piling everything he can reach and piles it onto his plate.

"The time when I was worshiped as an alien queen," says Jenni.

"Oh, that again," says Lysandra with a laugh. She tries to catch my eye, but I look away.

**Chapter Fifty-Six:**

Once I'm done with breakfast, I go back outside, hoping to keep reading. But ultimately, it's an utter waste of time. I can't focus. I just have a dream interpretation book open on my knees while I stare at the lake and the nearby mountains, letting my imagination get the better of me.

I drop the book. I had been so out of it, I didn't notice that Ricia had sat down next to me. She's resting her chin on her knees, arms wrapped tightly around her legs, watching me.

"You fancy Lysandra, don't you?"

"What are you talking about, Reesh?" I try to sound like the idea is vaguely amusing. But Ricia sees right through me. She's smiling at me in a kinder, more genuine way than she ever has. Her eyes are a little bit sad.

"Don't lie, Ross. I saw the look on your face last night, when I joked that you two were getting up to something and that Tyson would be jealous. That spilt second where you wished that you were. Then you looked like you hated yourself." Ricia sighs heavily. She plucks a pebble from the grass and throws it into the lake. "I know how you feel."

"Oh, you like Lysandra, too?" I say, laughing a little. I pause, half-worried she might say yes and that would mean I must die a thousand deaths for my idiocy.

"No you moron!" Ricia gasps in between laughs. "I'm talking about someone else!" she clears her throat. "A _male_ someone else," she clarifies.

"Are you talking about Nick?" I ask.

She laughs again. "No. I'm not remotely close to Nicky's type and nor is he mine." She smiles at some joke I'm not a part of.

"Then who is it?" I persist. She knows how I feel about Lyssie. It's only fair that I get to know who Ricia's got her eye on.

"Merlin, are all boys stupid or is it just the ones here? I _know _how you feel because _I_ wished that you and Lysandra were getting up to something, all right?"

"Erm… what?" I stare at her, as if I have never seen her before in my life. "You mean that you… Tyson?" The disbelief is very audible in my voice. I can't help it. I can't picture what Ricia would see in Tyson. He doesn't like playing competitive Quidditch, wouldn't know a musical instrument if it landed on his head, and would rather spend his Saturdays in the library then outside.

"It started last year," explains Ricia, in a tone that would suggest something embarrassing. "Just listen for two minutes, all right?"

**Chapter Fifty-Seven:**

"I was close to failing out of school at the end of sixth year. I didn't do so great on my O.W.L.s. I hated my classes. It got to a point where I just didn't care anymore. All I wanted to do was write music and play Quidditch. McGonagall would rather die than let me waste 'my potential' or whatever. So I was assigned a tutor. A Ravenclaw with his act together." She smiles. "Academic-wise. I was told explicitly not to participate in any of his pranks."

"Tyson." I say. I wonder why he never mentioned it. But then again, none of us share a common room with him, so we wouldn't know what he got up to without us.

"Yes. We spent a lot of time together. And… I don't know. He was nice."

"Yeah, okay," I scoff. "I still don't see what you see in him," I tell her bluntly. "I mean, what do you have in common?"

"That's the point," says Ricia. "Not much. But maybe, I don't want someone to play Quidditch with. I want someone to cheer me on. I don't want someone to write lyrics for me, I want someone to listen to mine. And I want someone who'll patiently explain a spell's theory while everyone else just gets it in one go." Ricia's voice breaks as she says that last sentence. "And I thought maybe, he'd like someone who'd make him laugh. Someone who would drag him out of the library and take him out on a Friday night. And maybe he would like someone to put Carson Hale in his place when he starts acting obnoxious." Ricia turns away from me so she can wipe her eyes. "Have you ever seen him corner Tyson? It's awful. I can't imagine what it must be like sharing a common room with him."

I gape at her. In all the years I've known Tyson, in all the years I've complained about Carse Hole being a life ruiner, Tyson's never done more than just agree with me. I had no idea Carse Hole made him miserable, too.

"What does Carse Hole say to him?" I ask.

Ricia lets out a noise that's somewhere between a hiccup and a laugh. "Carse Hole? That's funny! Anyway, you know how he's Muggle-born has had to stay behind a year because of the War?"

"Who could forget?"

"Well, he's always saying stuff about Tyson's dad being one of the Death Eaters, you know. Just because he was a Slytherin. It's stupid. Especially since Tyson's father died for not joining the Death Eaters. Those accusations just kill Tyson, especially since his dad's death was covered up by the press. They weren't about to glorify a Slytherin."

My head swims. Tyson's dad was a Slytherin? Killed during the War? How did Tyson not mention any of this to me, yet poured his heart out to Ricia?

I stare at her, lost for words.

And I know I will never again refer to Tyson as a worthless idiot. No matter how jealous I am.

**Chapter Fifty-Eight:**

"It's not like I was the only one," says Ricia after a pause. Ricia, normally so tough, now seems small and delicate."We had a moment. Once. I think he was about to ask me out and then Nick showed up. Tyson about fell out of his chair and ran off. We haven't really talked much since then. Then he showed up with Lysandra." She sighs bitterly.

"I'm sorry."

"Me too," says Ricia, dolefully.

I raise an eyebrow.

"I mean, I'm sorry about you and Lysandra," she amends. She's smiling slightly.

We fall silent and I glance at the open pages of my book. After a minute or so, I realize that I'm not taking in a word of it. So instead, I close the dream interpretation book and go back to watching the lake. Every once in a while, I think I see evidence of the giant squid, but I'm probably just imagining it. He doesn't usually surface when the weather is this cold.

"If we were less than kind people," Ricia suddenly says, "it might be funny to get together and mess with them."

"What on earth do you mean by that?"

She shrugs. "I don't know… pretend to date or something and see if we can make them jealous."

I laugh. "But that wouldn't work. They're happy together."

"It was a thought," Ricia huffed. After a pause she added, "Not to mention they're a lot better looking than either of us."

"Hey!" I protested.

"Sorry Quaffle head," Ricia snickered, "but it's true."

"I was talking about _you,_" I clarify. "You're pretty, just as pretty as Lyssie. In a different way."

"What a load of bullsnitch."

"You look like the girl on the cover of Witch Weekly!"

"The _before _pictures."

Just as I'm about to seriously consider hexing her, I hear a familiar voice, "Ross! There you are!"


	17. Ch 59 to 61

**Chapter Fifty-Nine:**

"Neville! What are you doing here, mate?" I stand up, Ricia fallows suit. She's nodding at Neville, recognizing him as an Auror and a war hero. There's a funny smile on her face, then she makes herself scarce.

"Looking for you," Neville explained. "I have an assignment and I was wondering if maybe you wanted to come a long? You're in the Auror program, so you could think of this as an internship."

"Really?" My head is positively spinning at the idea. "That's fantastic. Thank you. I'd love that. Is it okay with McGonagall?"

"There's been a few Dementor reports in Kent," Neville explained. "Williamson's wife is about three minutes away from having a baby, so the Minister suggested that I bring you along instead, let you get some firsthand experience. McGonagall said it was all right. She said she trusted me."

"Wow. What are we waiting for, let's go!" Neville smiles a bit at my enthusiasm and he guides me to the path that leads to Hogsmeade. "The minister mentioned me? Specifically? By name?" Take that Carse Hole. Ha. Hah. Ha.

"Well, not specifically by name," coughed Neville, turning his face away from Ross. "He said something like, 'that kid at Hogwarts with the big mouth we once caught conjuring giant bat Patronuses over the summer holidays.'"

"HE DID NOT SAY I HAVE A BIG MOUTH!" I clamp my teeth together to demonstrate how normal sized my mouth is.

Neville laughs but does not confirm or deny the Minister's words.

"It's not a bat, either, my Patronus. It's an Olitiau."

"And what pray tell is that?" asks Neville.

I grin and tell him to ask his wife, Luna Lovegood, expert of all Magical Creatures, even ones not in _Fantastic Beasts._

Once we are off school grounds, Neville Disapparates, with me clutching on to his sleeve for dear life.

When the sensation of being torn inside out is over, Neville and I are standing on a beach under a pier. It's cloudy and stormy. Very dark. Prime Dementor weather.

Neville raises his wand, glancing around to make sure no Muggle saw us appear. The coast is clear. Neville puts his wand in his front pocket. "We're in Sheerness," Neville explains. "And someone reported a Dementor living in one of the shipyards. Hopefully," Neville began, his voice full of doubt, "it'll just be the one. I'm not very good with Patronuses."

After a bit of walking, we make our way to a shipyard. It seems deserted. Muggles couldn't see Dementors, but they could feel them. If the Dementor had been around long enough, it might have driven everyone away.

We took about ten steps before he noticed it was getting cold.

Neville and I get out our wands and continue to walk forward, trying to find where it was coldest.

I tried suggesting that we split up, but Neville told me that I was his responsibility and that I really ought to shut up. We start looking everywhere. In the boats, under the docks and piers. Finally, Neville points towards the end of the shipyard to wooden, rundown boathouse.

"It's got to be there," he says in a determined voice. "Let's go."

**Chapter Sixty:**

We stand outside the boathouse, both nervous about what had taken up residence inside. We both hold tightly to our wands, like old Dementy in there will disarm us. It's so cold our teeth our chattering.

"Got your happy memory ready?" Neville asks.

"Yeah," I say, smiling despite myself. "Christmas four years ago. And what about you?"

"July Twenty-First 2004," says Neville without skipping a beat. His wedding anniversary.

"Neville casts Alohamora and the door to the boathouse unlatches. We burst the door open. It drops a further ten degrees. And there it is, shrouded in a black cloak, gliding towards us.

. I hear muffled screams in my head. And I see things, horrible things, Lyssie snogging Tyson, the image of the blinded vampire child in my nightmare, the dead bodies piled up in the Great Hall after the Battle of Hogwarts, the Carrows torturing Michael Corner for coming to rescue me from the dungeon…

HAPPY THOUGHTS! Christmas, four years ago… Christmas…

We aim and fire. "_Expecto Patronum_!" we shout, over and over.

"Luna," Neville whispers. And that's all it takes. A blinding flash of white light and a then a huge silver lion leaps out at the Dementor, clawing at its robes and dead hands.

Wow! _That's new._

Neville looks amazed at his corporeal Patronus as I shout _Expecto Patronum_ again, thinking of Christmas four years ago, and so my Olitiau joins forces with the lion. Together, they force the Dementor to retreat. Neville and I guide the Patronuses out of the boathouse and out on to the shipyard. Panting, we follow the Dementor for several yards to make sure it's really gone.

Before long the fog lifts, the clouds part, and the sun starts to shine.

"Did we kill it?" I asked hopefully.

Neville grimaces. "No, we've never found a way to kill them. They die of natural causes after fifty years, though."

"_Fifty_?!"

"C'mon Ross, we better get going," says Neville. He tosses a chocolate bar at me. I practically inhale it.

"Now that the sun is out, the Muggles will probably start showing up."

We walk out of the boathouse and make our way out across the shipyard. I step on something, barely avoid twisting my ankle and tripping. I glance down at the object that had so narrowly missed killing me.

It's a small wooden doll with pale features, a hand-painted smile, and simple dark yarn for hair. I look at her, feeling a strange sense in the pit of my stomach. Before I can figure out what it is, Neville leads me back into the boathouse.

With the new light, I take in my surroundings. The boathouse is very familiar, but I can't quite place it. I stare at the window which has been covered up with thick black paint. Interesting.

Before I can notice anymore, we've Disapparated.

**Chapter Sixty-One:**

Once we finally get back to Hogwarts, I am greeted as some kind of hero. Word had got out (RICIA the Italian Horror!) that I had gone off grounds with Neville Longbottom on Auror trainee business and everyone and their brother wanted to know what happened. It felt like the whole of seventh year wanted to sit near me at dinner.

Everyone but Carse Hole, that is. He was completely jealous that the minister asked for me and not him. Okay, so he asked for big mouth boy, but whatever! I helped banish a Dementor, what did Carse Hole ever do besides make people want to bang their heads against the wall?

"Neville finally has a corporeal Patronus?" Nick inquirers. "He used to always complain about having trouble with them back in the Dumbledore's Army days…"

"Yep," I say, grabbing everything I can and piling it on to my dinner plate. I'm starving. "It's a lion," I inform them in between bites of dinner. "And it bears a frightening resemblance to that lion hat Luna used to wear to Gryffindor Quidditch games."

"Go Gryffindor!" says Melissa, nodding her approval.

"And I cast one, too, after a few tries," I add. "A corporeal Patronus, I mean." I may or not be bragging for Lysandra's benefit.

"_You_ cast an actual corporeal Patronus in front of a Dementor?" someone asks, voice full of wonder. "What did it look like?"

"Like a giant and silver Olitiau!" I explain.

"What the bloody hell is an O-li-ti-oh?" Jenni raises an eyebrow at me.

"Don't any of you people read _the Quibbler_?" I sigh.

"His Patronus is a bat," Lysandra clarifies. "Ross is just in denial. There are plenty of people with non-magical creatures for Patronuses," she adds, looking at me. "Don't be ashamed."

"I'm not ashamed. And it's not a bat," I insist. "It's too huge! It's practically the size of a pterodactyl!"

Someone—Tyson?—coughs at this and a few people laugh. Ha-ha, laughing as if I'm not talking about size in relation to a Patronus. Hilarious.

"It's _got_ to be an Olitiau!" I add. "It fits the description to a tee." I stand up. "I'm really tired. I've got to go to sleep," I mutter. I wave goodbye to everyone and start making my way up the staircase.

"Wait," Lysandra protests. She holds out a dish of some desert. "You really should eat some of this. Chocolate, you know."

I manage a slight smile. "Thanks, but Neville made sure I had some already. I'll see you all in the morning."


	18. Ch 62 to 65

**Chapter Sixty-Two:**

_Everyone takes their seats at the extensive refectory table. Everyone is buzzing with questions about the meeting they are about to have. Laurel slides into a chair next to Willow and their other sister Sequoia. Their brother, Ash, is nowhere to be found. But that isn't surprising, considering he detests all things political. _

_"Oh, look at you," says Sequoia dully, noticing Laurel from underneath her dark black bangs. They hang in her face like a curtain. Laurel suddenly has a dim flash of their mother pushing back Sequoia's bangs. "Father is finally letting you sit in on a meeting? Is precious baby Laurie all grown up?" She says Laurel's childhood nickname with contempt. Laurel raises an eyebrow._

_"Um." Not exactly. But Cypress hadn't thrown her out. Of course, he isn't here yet._

_"This whole meeting is about her and Jade," Willow pipes up. "It's only fair that she gets to see the outcome of it."_

_Sequoia shrugs and starts twirling her hair around her finger. "That's right. I heard you ran into humans. What were they like?"_

_"Hell-bent on hexing me," Laurel spits back. "Short. Like, really short. Several feet smaller than me, the runt."_

_Someone coughs and the room falls silent as Cypress and Pyrite enter the room. Cypress stands at the front of the table to a smattering of polite applause. "Thank you all for coming. Your interest is noted and appreciated. Tonight, we are going to discuss a matter of utmost importance. Something that will define our whole futures. I now ask you to turn your attention to our important guest, Pyrite Onyx." Father gestures at Pyrite, making a little bow then taking his seat._

_Everyone breaks out into a whisper. Laurel's jaw drops. She may not have ever been to a meeting before, but she knows that her father never sits down and lets someone else do the talking. This must be really serious._

_Pyrite stands there a little nervously as everyone's eyes meet his. He clears his throat and looks to Willow for encouragement. She manages a smile and a slight nod._

_"I'm Pyrite Onyx," he says. "I'm from Gwyndir Forest… Er… I believe many of you know my lovely wife, Willow." Everyone's glances flicks briefly over to Willow before turning back to Pyrite._

_"Almost a month ago, wizards raided on our village. Without any reason. All my life—all _our_ lives—we have lived by their rules. Wizards. We obey their laws, eat what they tell us to, live where they tell us to, and still they do not trust us. They treat us like animals, letting scum hunt us for sport or letting humans like that bitch Dolores Umbridge try to have us tagged like we're cattle." Pyrite's voice grows more confident with each word, his tone becoming harsher and angrier. ""Some of them attempted to assault my sister-in-law." He nods toward Laurel. "And one decided it would be funny to place silver coins on the lids of my daughter's eyes. My daughter, who was sleeping at the time of the attack, who is barely past infancy. She is blinded forever because of their cruelty. A friend I had known since childhood was slain where he stood."_

_The room goes deadly silent. _

_"Is that what you want?" Pyrite bellows. "At worst, our friends being murdered, our children being attacked? At best, being treated like live stock? We are not animals! IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT?!" he repeats. "How would _they_ like it if _their_ children were being slaughtered?! It's time to take a stand. It's time to fight for our rights. Why should wizards keep the secrets of magic and wandlore to themselves? If we had wands, we could defend ourselves better. It's our time for us to be heard! The time has come for rebellion!" _

_Pyrite's words ring throughout the deathly silent dining hall. "Let's teach these wizards a lesson. Let's see how they like it when _they're_ the ones being raided on! When _they're_ the ones watching their children be tortured." He pauses, then adds as loudly as he can, "Are you with me?"_

_Everyone bursts into applause, cheering and stamping to a deafening volume. Quite a few people stand up._

_Pyrite beams, this response better than anything he could have imagined. _

_But something keeps Laurel from joining in as a particular sentence rings through her head:_

How would_ they like it if their _children were being slaughtered_..._

_Laurel feels sick to her stomach. She had been so sure that this meeting would fix everything. But it seemed that everything was just about to get a lot worse._

**Chapter Sixty-Three:**

My eyes snap open. Despite the disturbing dream I've just had, something about Vampires wanting to revolt against wizards and maim children, I remember that today is October second. I'm eighteen today. Huzzah.

I sit up and try to push my hair out of my eyes and I'm suddenly aware that there's something spellotaped to my forehead. That's interesting. I peel off a piece of parchment. I examine it in the dim light and can make out Lysandra's handwriting and customary blue ink:

_A little birdie told me that today you are eighteen Talking behind others' backs is a nasty habit. You might want to confront him, if you know what I mean_

Lysandra is so weird. And really bad at rhyming. What's this supposed to mean, anyway? I glance at my watch. It's barely six AM. And it's Sunday. Everyone else is still asleep. I creep out of bed and get dressed as quietly as possible.

Lyssie isn't in the common room and of course, going to her dormitory is out of the question. I stare at the little poem and read it again. Perhaps it's like a scavenger hunt? And I'm supposed to find some bird. That shouldn't be too hard. There's only eighty-five octillion birds in the world. The only place I can think of that would have birds is the owlery. I guess I should go there. It's a start, at least.

Once I reach the owlery, I try looking for my owl, Pest, but he's not around. Hmm. As I turn to leave, one of the school owls jumps from his perch and pecks me on top of the head. And not sweetly, either, I might add. Swearing and running my fingers over my head, I turn and face the owl. He holds out his leg. There's a small role of parchment attached. I untie and unroll it.

_They told me you were too thick, _

_but I knew you'd come through_

_there's no riddle or trick_

_There's nothing to fear_

_When it comes to your next clue,_

_Just track down the girl whose only company is her tears _

Tears? Moaning Myrtle? Really? On my birthday? Is this a joke? If so, I'm not laughing. But I do as the note tells me anyway because Lysandra wants me to do it. Plus, it looks like she went through a lot of trouble.

Making sure there are no prefects or teachers around, I sneak into Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. I don't hear her wailing, which I take to be a very good sign. "Er, hello?" I call. "Myrtle? Lysandra sent me. It's Ross Warren."

I feel stupid.

"Oh wow, you _are_ tall," says a girlish voice from somewhere behind me.

I spin around and come face to face with Hogwarts' most miserable hermit ghost.

**Chapter Sixty-Four:**

"How tall are you, exactly?" asks Myrtle, hovering higher and high until she makes eye contact with me. She leans in quite close. It's cold.

"Uh, six foot seven," I manage. My breath escapes in a cloud of mist. I take a shaky step back. "Do you have a message for me? From Lysandra?"

"Yes," says Myrtle dramatically. Then falls silent.

I wait. "Well?" I press.

Myrtle huffs. "Fine. Fine. '"

Myrtle goes on to recite another bad poem that sends me to the library and from the library to the kitchens to ask Winky the House Elf about half-baked cookies, from there to Hagrid's hut, to the music room. I spend all day running around it's nearly noon (I haven't even eaten breakfast yet, never mind lunch!) and I finally find myself in the trophy room. I haven't been in here in a long time. I haven't had polishing detention in a couple of years.

"I thought you'd never get here."

Lysandra leans against one of the trophy cases. She holds a book up to me and waves it in my face. "Good thing Nicholas Benedict is so interesting. I've been here all day."

"We'll, I've spent my eighteenth birthday running around like an idiot," I say, pretending to be mad. "Whatever you got me, better be good."

She smiles and gestures towards one of the trophy cases. "Take a look."

I glance at the Special Award for Services to the School section and do a double take. Underneath a plaque with Neville Longbottom's name is one that reads:

For Ross Warren, for Outstanding and Continuous Dedication to Dumbledore's Army

I feel my throat tighten; I tear my eyes away from my award and look at Lysandra, who's beaming at me as if it were her own plaque. I can't believe she did this. This was pretty much what would seal me the deal when I apply for a job as an Auror in July. Carse Hole doesn't have a Special Services Award and I don't see him getting one any time soon.

"How? Why?" I stammer.

Lyssie smiles broadly. "I was having a word with Professor Stone and he agreed you were exceptionally talented and hardworking when it comes to Defense Against the Dark Arts… and deserved to be the one to become an Auror. He said this would probably get the job in the bag for you. McGonagall liked the idea. Maybe since Stone is head of Gryffindor and McGonagall used to be..." She looks so proud of herself. "Happy birthday."

Before I know what I'm doing, I'm throwing my arms around her and pulling her close. "I don't know how to being to thank you," I say stupidly.

"Ross, don't worry about it. It was nothing."

Before we can say or do anything else, Filch comes wandering in and yells at us to get out.

We do so, skidding past him and snickering as he takes swipes at us with his dirty polishing rag.

**Chapter Sixty-Five:**

I decide the best way to prove to the world I deserve that shiny new trophy is by holding a DA meeting. Since there are no Quidditch practices this afternoon, attendance is pretty good. Maybe twenty-five.

I glance at Professor Stone, our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and suggest that everyone try a shield charm. Professor Stone nods in approval and the incantation is quickly murmured throughout the room. It seems like this place is the only time people will listen to me. Professor Stone, strolls among the fifth, sixth, and seventh-years, correcting grip and wand movements and pronunciation while I try to help the younger students.

There's a third year who mispronounced the spell so badly that silver birds are pelting out from the end of her wand. She shrieks and drops her wand as the birds begin to swoop around the room. The room is now filled with the sounds of laughter and shrieks as the birds circle overhead.

"Everyone, calm down, calm down, they're only birds!" says Professor Stone, he waves his wand and starts vanishing the little buggers one by one.

The third year girl reaches down for her wand and stands up, looking upset. I make my way over to her side. "You," I tell her in a whispered voice, "Conjuring something, especially a living something, is really advanced magic, even if you didn't mean to do it. You won't learn that till sixth year."

She tries to smile. "Really?"

"Yeah," I say. "All you did was change the pronunciation a bit." I tell her the right way to say the spell, doing my best to stress each syllable.

The girl tries the spell again.

"You ready to test it out?" I ask.

She nods and I cast the disarming spell. The spell bounds backwards toward me, but I manage to cling to my wand anyway. But she can tell I had difficulty holding on to it. She smiles tremulously.

"Good job!" I say enthusiastically and she smiles genuinely this time.

"Thank you!" she cries, exuberant. She turns on her heel and goes over to her friend, ready to practice again.

"You're so good with them," Lysandra whispers.

Ugh. How did she get so close? My heart starts pounding. "It's just because I've got siblings who are so much younger than me." See, I can be modest…. Girls like modesty? Right?

"Where's your boyfriend?" I ask, noticing she's partnered with Jenni. _Stupid question, Ross. Stupid, stupid, stupid_. Jenni smirks at me.

"He said he had plants to collect for Herbology homework. I guess he's out on the grounds."

"He still hasn't done that assignment?" I ask, surprised. Not like Tyson to procrastinate. "Merlin, that was like the easiest assignment we've had all year."

Before anything else can be said, the door bangs open. At first I think that no one is there, but then glance down and notice tiny, little professor Flitwick is there. He looks distressed.

"Head count, head count!" he wheezes frantically. "All students to their common rooms, the heads of houses are taking attendance, then having a meeting."

People start asking questions, but Flitwick shushes us all and Professor Stone ushers us out the door. I swear, teachers have some sort of code they all abide. Lysandra and I share a look and instead of going to Gryffindor tower, we crouch in a niche behind a vase and listen.

"What's going on?" asks Professor Stone, actually having to hurry to keep up with Flitwick, who's moving surprisingly fast with his short little legs.

"I didn't know Flitwick could move so quickly," I whispered to Lysandra. She elbows me in the ribs so I'll shut up.

"A student from my house has been attacked by… something," whispers Professor Flitwick.


	19. Ch 66 to 68

**Chapter Sixty-Six:**

Lysandra and I get back to Gryffindor Tower, trying to explain to Professor Stone how he got there before us.

He waves our explanation aside and checks our names off on a list.

"What's going on?" Ricia demands. "Why is everyone having heart attacks? I was busy studding you know. It took me nearly seven years to get in the library and the moment I do, I'm ripped out by Professor Slughorn."

Professor Stone closes his eyes. "One of our students was out on the grounds and he was attacked. He's unconscious and we haven't been able to revive him yet. We're trying to make sure no one else is wounded and lost."

"What attacked him?" I ask.

"We don't know if it was another student… or something else."

I share a look with Lyssie, Ricia, Nick and Mariah. All four of them look scared, I probably looked just as fearful. If something like this happened six years ago, it would have been just an ordinary, run-of-the-mill day.

But now…?

Lysandra bites her lip and starts blinking rapidly. She raises a shaking hand into the air.

"Yes, Miss Spinnet?" says Professor Stone, looking up at her from his clipboard.

"Who was attacked?" she asks.

My heart sinks.

_"A student from my house…" Ravenclaw. "A student out on the grounds." Attacked. Unconscious. Where's your boyfriend? "He said he had plants to collect for Herbology homework. I guess he's out on the grounds."_

Tyson!

I feel Ricia sink down onto one of the chairs nearby. I glance at her out of the corner of my eye. She has her head buried in her hands. Nick puts a hand on her shoulder but she doesn't look up. Melissa pats her head sympathetically.

I look over at Lysandra. She's biting her nails so hard I'm worried she might accidently pry them off. She hasn't been driven to do that since first-year and the Carrows threatened to torture her for detention. As kindly as possible, I pull her hands away from her mouth.

As Professor Stone starts going off on a spiel about how we're not supposed to leave Gryffindor tower for the rest of the night, I begin to feel more hopeless than I have in years.

If Carse Hole is responsible for Tyson's injuries, I swear he'll pay.

**Chapter Sixty-Seven:**

_"Where is everyone?" Laurel asks. She had been walking around the manor all evening and she had not seen anyone until right now. Ash. Her brother. _

_He stands up from the table and hugs her. Finally, a proper greeting from someone. "Laurel, I heard you were back. Sorry missed you the last few nights, I was hunting. There's been lots of deer lately, thought I might take advantage." _

_"Where is everyone?" Laurel repeats. _

_Ash shrugs. "Most of them have gone off to war following that idiot Pyrite. Including our father. I can't _believe _him." _

_Laurel normally would have told Ash off for calling Pyrite an idiot, but the word "war" left her quite distracted. "What? War? Everyone?" she manages in between gasps. She was all for change. She hadn't been happy when Pyrite said the words "Rebellion." "War" was an even worse word._

_"Well… not literally everyone, of course. The kids are still here, and the older ones. Plus you, me, Sequoia, and Willow. I don't know why they're doing this." He shakes his head. "It's only going to make the humans hate us and fear us more."_

_"Where are they going?" Laurel asks._

_Ash shrugs. "I don't know. Sequoia told me that Pyrite was talking about hurting human children, so maybe he's taking everyone to the Wizarding school. Hogsomething? And I'm sure quite a few of them are off seeking reinforcement from other Vampire clans…."_

_ Hurting human children. Wizarding school. Reinforcement. _

_"We have to stop them," she says._

_"That's a good one," says Ash unsmilingly. _

_"I'm serious!" Laurel insists. "I want things to change, so badly. But not like this. Not hurting kids who have nothing to do with it. This won't get us wands! This won't make people stop hunting us. We have to stop them before they do something terrible that gets us all put to death."_

_"Laurel, you're nineteen years old. They're not going to listen to you." _

_If we can get to them before they build up an army-" _

_"Laurel," Ash says. He sounds annoyed now. _

_"Shut up! You're always whining about how stupid everyone around here is. But you don't even try. You don't go to meetings, you don't vote on anything. I'm not going to just sit by and complain like you do! I'm going to try to do something!"_

_Laurel turns away and starts making her way upstairs to her room, running through a list of things she would need to bring._

_"You're not going alone," Ash whispers. "Not after what happened to you last time you were out on your own. I'm coming with you."_

_Laurel turns and smiles. Her brother was finally trying. _

**Chapter Sixty-Eight**

I wake up on Monday, after a disturbing dream involving Laurel and a great deal of packing.

Since I'm struggling to remember the finer details of the first part of the dream, I'm hoping this is a sign that they're going away. I'm really sick them.

"Ross, you awake?" I resist the urge to shriek.

It's Lysandra, meanwhile Ricia is prodding Nick awake.

I hastily pull the covers up to my neck, even though Lysandra has slept over my house and has seen me in my pajamas quite a few times.

"Come on. We're visiting Tyson before breakfast. Hopefully he's awake."

I nod and get out of bed and Nick ushers the girls out so he and I can change.

After we're dressed we make our way to the hospital wing. I really wish we could get Luke and Jenni, but there isn't time.

We're relieved to see that Tyson is sitting up in bed, propped up on pillows with a breakfast trey balanced on his knees. But he hasn't eaten much and the expression on his face is rather dazed. He smiles somewhat when he sees us.

"Hey look, Grffies," he slurs. He grins.

The side of his head and face is all bandaged up and one of his eyes is swollen almost shut.

"What happened, Tyce?" Lysandra asks.

Tyson's smile slips. "Something swooped. And scratched me. I think it wanted to take my eye." He gestures toward his face

"So it wasn't a student?" I press.

Tyson shakes his head. "Not unless they're… an… Animagus. It was definitely an animal. Wings. And claws."

"Was it a bird?" asks Nick.

"Maybe," says Tyson. "Not an owl or shparrow or shomething fluffy. I don't really remember much. Everyone was asking me questions lasht night when I came to. And they got Professor Snape's portrait to tell Shlughorn some kind of potion to fix for me. My brain's been kindah shlow. " He rubs his eyes and turns to Ricia. "Reesha, you'll bring me my Muggle Studies homework? I can't get… behind."

Ricia nods, looking surprised Tyson cares about homework.

There's a funny look on Lysandra's face I can't quite identify

We don't get much else out of Tyson and Madam Pomfrey soon comes to shoo us away.


	20. Ch 69 to 71

**Chapter Sixty-Nine:**

Tyson wasn't the last kid to be attacked. By the time October ends, three more kids are injured. Throughout November and December, five more are. We're not allowed on the grounds anymore. We're escorted to Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures takes place far away from the Forbidden Forest. Hagrid claimed that animals were behaving oddly, Fang the boarhound would bark suddenly, even when there was nothing there. The Giant Squid wouldn't venture out of the water. Owls seemed weary of leaving their tower. The Centaurs were nervous, claiming that things were in the forest that shouldn't be.

While the injuries haven't been life threatening, they have been hard to treat. Tyson still has scarring on the side of his face. He likes it though, says that it makes him look tough.

Previously flawless Indina Joyce was attacked, too. She managed to cover her face, but that action resulted in her hands, arms, and shoulders being scarred. However, she managed to get a quick glimpse of what attacked her. She claimed it was large and black, and kind of leathery, too big to be a bat, too small to be a Thestral.

Looks like Olitiaus don't seem like such a crazy possibility after all.

The Ministry sent loads of Aurors into the Forest to try to find the damn thing, but they didn't get any leads or clues. Since they encountered nothing, they have decided the thing has moved on. But as a precaution, no one is allowed a hundred yards within the perimeter of the Forest. After that, the attacks stopped. But I'm positive the thing is still in there.

I still have been having dreams about Laurel and her brother, the details are starting to be a lot less clear, but from what I can tell, all they do is wander around, trying to find someone.

With everything that's been going on, I'm kind of relieved to be home for Christmas. And today has been especially restful. I have more than earned a bit of rest. It's great to just lay around after a big meal and gazing at a huge pile of newly acquired stuff. Who doesn't love Christmas?

"Ross," my mother calls. "Get a move on, we're going to be late."

I sit up, feeling tired. "Late for what?" I call.

"We're having desert at the Spinnets'," Mum calls. "Like we do every year?"

Oh. I didn't know we were still invited to Lysandra's house. Lysandra hadn't said anything. I dimly wonder if Tyson will be there.

When we all Apparate on the Spinnets' front porch, I find Lysandra and her older sisters Olivia and Alicia sitting outside. But no Tyson.

"Yay, you're here!"

After we all hug and catch up, Lysandra begins to lead me through the door of her house.

"Uh-oh," giggles Alicia, sounding gleeful. "Caught again!"

"Didn't you two learn your lesson four years ago?" adds Olivia. "What are you waiting for?"

Lysandra and I glance up, noting the mistletoe. This happened once before, when we were thirteen. The adults teased and harassed us until we went through with it. It was nothing major; we just sort of pressed our faces together for the briefest of split seconds.

And yet it's still one of my happiest memories.

I gulp and turn to look at Lysandra.

**Chapter Seventy:**

Olivia and Alicia start giggling. "Go on!"

Lysandra smiles apologetically at me.

"I can't kiss her," I say, trying to stay calm. I stuff my hands in my pockets and throw my cloak off my shoulders a little bit. Even though we're outside, it's snowing and probably fifteen degrees out, it's suddenly very warm. "She's got a boyfriend. "

Olivia and Alicia share a look. "Oooh, really Lyssie?" they say at the same time.

_That's._ Unexpected.

Lysandra looks as though she would love to drop off the face of the earth, "Can it, Ross," she spits between clenched teeth.

"You shouldn't keep things from your sisters," Alicia chides. "It's not nice."

"Yeah, so tell us about him," Olivia inquires.

"What's his name?"

"What House is he in?"

"Does he play Quidditch?""

"And most important of all: What does he look like?"

"Shut up." Lysandra glowers at her sisters and drags me through the house as I apologize over and over again, insisting I had no idea she didn't tell her family about Tyson.

Lysandra turns to me. "Ross, I haven't told my family about him because—"

At that moment, the door bangs open and Mister and Missus Spinnet announce how happy they are that my family is here and hope that I am having a happy Christmas.

Despite the initial awkwardness, the rest of the evening runs smoothly. Our parents catch up on the past year, my younger siblings play with the Spinnets' various assortment of pets, and Lyssie and her sisters and I lie down by the fireplace, listening to the Wizard's Wireless. We sleepily sing along with the Christmas carols, occasionally changing the words to Peeves approved lyrics.

I'm starting to find that the songs are coming in and out of focus. I'm only able to hear every third word. I'm so tired…

**Chapter Seventy-One:**

_"Where are we?" asks Laurel, looking at the village with wide eyes. It was alight with life and instead of hiding, Ash was ushering her towards the little cottages. _

_"I've heard of this place," says Ash. "It's a sole Wizarding settlement. There's not one Muggle here. We're welcome here."_

_Laurel looks at him, like she isn't sure. _

_Ash drags her along. "We've been traveling for months. There's places here that'll serve us, and I am dying for a place to stay. A nice place to stay. A bed. I want to sit down in chair when I eat. Okay, Laurel? Just… let's stay here for a little while. We're close to the school. We could probably find them in a couple of days. It's the holidays. The kids aren't even at the school. Okay?" _

_Laurel sighs, but the idea of being safe and warm for a few nights is too good to resist. _

_Laurel and Ash arrive at bar called The Three Broomsticks. The windows glow from the firelight. The air smells like cinnamon. _

_"Not here," Ash mutters. "I think it has "Hog" in the name. This place looks too much like a family environment."_

_After they wander farther down the road, the come across a bar called The Hog's Head. _

_"This is it!" _

_They walk inside and Ash goes to make reservations for the room upstairs with an older man and Laurel timidly orders from the young barman. _

_He smiles at up at her. "If you don't mind me saying, I've never met a Vampire before. And I'm a Muggle Born, so I didn't even know they existed until about ten years or so ago." _

_Laurel tries to smile back but she can't quite manage. She's too nervous. After what happened in the summer, she is nervous about being around humans. Ash assured her repeatedly Vampires were welcome in this particular bar. "I'm Laurel," she manages to inform him._

_"That's pretty. I'm Dennis. Where you from?"_

_"Um… Wales," she admits shakily. Laurel takes a seat at the bar. The seat's so low, much lower than the ones at home. Her legs bend awkwardly. Everything is smaller here than at home. She feels like a giant. _

_"What are you doing 'round here?" asks Dennis, placing two goblets in front of Laurel._

_"Traveling…"_

_Dennis nods, his neck craned awkwardly to be able to look up at her . "Do you mind if I ask how tall you are?" _

_"Erm, almost seven feet tall."_

_Dennis' jaw drops. "Wow. Are you all that tall?" _

_"I'm actually kind of small. My brother, Ash, is seven-foot-nine." She gestures upstairs. _

_"Cool," says Dennis. "Laurel. Ash. Like the trees?"_

_Laurel lets out a little laugh. "In my family, we are all named after trees. Our surname is Redwood. It's a tradition in Vampire culture to have first names related to your last name. My sister Willow married Pyrite Onyx, and their children are named Jasper and Jade. There's a family with the last name 'Star' and they're all called things like Polaris and Alhena." _

_"Wow," Dennis repeats. "I'm named after my great uncle Dionysius who gets spectacularly drunk at Christmas parties."_

_Laurel giggles._

_"How long you staying?"_

_Laurel shrugs. "I don't know. As long as it takes." _


	21. Ch 72 to 74

**Chapter Seventy-Two:**

My eyes snap open and I sit bold right up. I frantically realize that I am not in my house. It takes a few seconds to realize that I'm on the floor of Lysandra's living room. There's a few blankets over me and a dent in my side where I pressed against the handle of my wand. I pull it out of my pocket, muttering _Lumos_!

It takes another minute before I notice a note placed on the coffee table.

Ross,

You fell asleep and we couldn't wake you up. The Spinnets say that you are welcome to stay in the guestroom and have breakfast in the morning. If you're not up to it, you can come home.

Love,

Mum.

I sigh.

And then suddenly panic. Laurel! LAUREL! The weird vampire girl I've been dreaming about for months. I've been having a harder time remembering details when I wake up lately, but there's one thing I'm sure about right now. I know where she is. She's in the Hogs Head. Talking to Dennis Creevey about being tall.

It could just be a dream. But what if it's not? Why would I be having the same dreams about one girl over and over again? I never could find anything about that kind of dream in all the dream interpretation books I read.

If these dreams are more than dreams… well, this is pretty much the only chance I'll have to find out! And really, it'll only take a few minutes. Just to see if maybe it's real. I have no time to lose! I stand up, running my fingers through my hair. Looking around the room frantically, I realize that I'm not home and I don't have anything other than my wand. I glance down at my watch. It's almost two AM.

Fumbling, feeling nervous, I Disapparate.

When I reappear in Hogsmeade, the first thing I note is how cold I am. The second thing is I realize I forgot my cloak at Lyssie's house. Brrr!

I race down the cobbled street. There's only a few people out, since it's so late. They all give me mystified looks at I run past them, hopelessly flailing my arms as I go. I don't have time to care, though.

I finally reach the Hogs Head. It's pretty much the only place around that is still lit up and hasn't closed shop for the night. I press my face into the window. It immediately steams up from my breath, but through the fog I can make out a shape ascending the stairs that leads upstairs.

Without really knowing what I'm going to do, I open the door to the Hogs Head.

**Chapter Seventy-Three:**

"Hey, Dennis!" I say in falsely cheery voice, acting as though I come to the dusty old Hogs Head every day. "I didn't know you worked here."

Dennis, who had been cleaning a glass with a ratty, nasty rag, looks up at me, confused. "Wait a second, Ross? Warren?"

I nod. "Yeah. That's me."

Dennis laughs. "Wow, you shot up like a weed. Last time I saw you were just some awkward prepubescent that could barely reach my shoulder. You're like six and a half feet tall now. Someone's been taking his vitamins."

"Um, right." I force a smile.

"Erm, I'm sorry I can't serve you," Dennis mutters. "We were just about to close. What are you doing here anyway? You're up awful late. Or early. Depending on how you look at it."

I swallow nervously. Remember why you're here, Ross, I tell myself. Laurel, Laurel. She might be real. "Anyway, this is gonna sound crazy as hell, but just bare with me. Was there a girl here just now? Black hair, blue eyes. About…" I cough, awkwardly. "Heh. Seven feet tall."

Dennis raises an eyebrow. "She's a vampire. And apparently she's kind of small for her kind."

I gulp. That's still not quite enough. I have one more question and if it's true, then… well, I don't know. "And did you tell her that you were named after an uncle who gets 'spectacularly drunk?'"

What? That's the only specific and weird detail I really remember, okay?

Dennis drops the glass he was cleaning. It shatters on the floor and he makes no move to put it back together. He just stares at me. He closes his eyes and shakes his head. The glass shards fly up and put themselves back together. Dennis sets the newly repaired glass on the bar. He laughs a little. "It's been years, but every once-in-a-while, when I'm really surprised, I forget that magic exists. Isn't that funny? How did you spy on us, Extendable Ears?"

"I didn't spy on you," I say slowly, trying to keep my voice normal. These dreams have been real! Thesedreamshavebeen_real_! Laurel's real! Her family is real. Damn, damn, damn, damnit. Why am I spying on people while I sleep? I didn't cast any stalker spells. What is going on? Ugh, how am I gonna explain this to Dennis? "It's a project for Divination." My voice all but squeaks. "I just wanted to check and see if it worked."

"Sure," says Dennis doubtfully. "Just don't do it again. It's creepy."

"Eh," I mumble. "I'm sure I'm getting at least an E. I'll probably get an O if I can concentrate long enough to write a good essay." What am I talking about? I start backing away. "I've got to go….'Bye."

Leaving Dennis standing there, looking more confused than Carse Hole in History of Magic Class, I race out the door.

I want to be sick.

What's happening to me?

**Chapter Seventy-Four:**

After leaving the Hogs Head, I decide to go home instead of going back to the Spinnets'. I'm so disturbed that I am in no state of mind to socialize. And I really don't want to worry Lysandra or her family with my ill-disguised panic.

At my house, I head to the kitchen. I need a hearty meal; brain fuel. With shaking hands, I prepare a feast of sandwiches and… potatoes. Don't we have anything besides lunch meat, bread, and potatoes? After all my hard work, I can barely force down the food. My throat is too tight; swallowing hurts. Too nervous to eat?

This is bad.

I give up the food and decide to go upstairs. Once I get up to my room, the only thing I can do is pace. I can't sleep. I'm petrified to sleep. I keep checking my watch for the time. The second the clock strikes seven AM, I'm heading to Neville's house. It's the only thing I can think to do.

What? It's better than trying to find Trelawney. Not to mention, Luna was supposed to be pretty good at Divination, maybe she'll know something.

I check my watch for the umpteenth time. It's barely a minute past six. I can't stand this. There's a dull pain behind my eyes and my stomach is in knots. I press the palms of my hands against my temples, hoping to relieve the headache. All this does is 'cause my vision to blur. My stomach constricts and I feel something rise in my throat.

_I'm going to be sick._

I push open the door to my room and dash down the hall. I barely walk into the bathroom when I'm hit with another wave of nausea. I double over and groan.

"Ross? Is that you?" I hear someone call. I can't tell if it's Mum or Rebekka, that's how out of it I am.

"Yeah, it's me, I'm not feeling so well," I explain it except it sounds a lot more like: "Ungh!" I manage to take one more step towards the toilet before I hit the cold, tiled floor with a thump. I have no will or energy to get up again. I close my eyes.

"Ross are you all right? What did you knock over?" A few seconds of silence then, "Are you in the bathroom? Are you all right? Are you sick, Rossy?"

_Rossy. It's Mum_, I dimly register.

I hear her out in the hallway. Since I left the door open, she can clearly see that I'm curled up on the floor and looking pitiful.

"Ross!" She starts calling for my dad and that's the last thing I hear before everything gets goes deathly silent.


	22. Ch 75 to 79

**Chapter Seventy-Five:**

_Laurel smiles as she flops down on the creaky old bed at the Hogs Head. It wasn't very comfortable, but she had been sleeping outdoors for ages. On the ground. The cold, dirty ground riddled with twigs and pebbles. This was heavenly in comparison. "All right, Ash, I'll admit it. This is a lot better than sleeping on the ground in some cave, having to take look-out shifts."_

_Ash sticks a finger into his ear, acting as if he is doing some cleaning. "Sorry, little Sis, I've had some build up in my ears lately. Could you repeat that? It sounded suspiciously like you admitted I was right." _

_"I certainly never said that you were right. I said you had a good idea." _

_"A good idea that you disagreed with, meaning I was right and you were wrong." Ash grins and glances at the clock on the end table. It reads Six-Fifteen AM. He turns away, closing the drapes on the windows. He takes extra care to make sure the window is completely covered. "Get ready for sleep. We've only got a minute and a half or so before the sun starts to come up." _

_"Why bother? I don't think I'm going to sleep very well." _

_"Why not?"_

_"Uh, hello! Have you forgotten what we're doing tomorrow? We're trying to stop a war, for goodness' sake. We only have a few more days until the school's break is over. I mean, do you have any idea what's going to happen if we can't convince Dad and Pyrite to give this Vampire Rebellion up? More of our family is going to die or get hurt. And a bunch of human teenagers who get in the way are going to get killed and maimed, too. "_

_"SHH!" Ash hisses. "These walls are paper thin. Are you trying to get us dragged to the Ministry of Magic? I'm not exactly in the mood to stand before the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures office."_

_Laurel continues, her voice a little lower. "If we don't talk sense into them, we're in trouble. We're just going to prove that we are what the humans say we are!"_

_ Ash slams his fist at the wall. The bang resonates throughout the room, but at least he did not leave a hole. _

_"We are not what they say we are." He's not shouting, as Laurel had expected. His voice is a deadly whisper. "Do you hear me? We are not savages. Or fiends. Or demons. Those of us who aren't rogue eat the same thing most humans eat. We just… prepare it differently." _

_ Laurel removes the pillow under head and places it over her face. "I can't handle this." _

_"We're going to stop it, Laurel. I promise. I'm sure Dad was just angry at first. Now that he's had time to calm down, I'm sure he will see that starting a war is about the stupidest thing he could do right now. " _

_Laurel turns on her side, closing her eyes. She hopes Ash is right. _

**Chapter Seventy-Six:**

I open my eyes, slowly. I'm still on the floor of the bathroom, the side of my face pressed against the cold floor. Two words run through my mind- Vampires and rebellion. How had I forgotten? The last few weeks I have had difficulty remembering details once I wake up. I repeat these two words over and over.

I definitely need to get to Neville's house now. I mean, he's an Auror. If anyone could help me stop this, it's him. Not to mention the fact that this whole dream thing sounds crazy. If I got a shot at anyone taking me seriously and believing me, it's Neville. He could tell the Minister for me since they seem to be on such good terms.

I'm nervous I might still feel sick, so I try to sit up as slowly as possible. To my surprise, I feel all right. No headache or nausea. I move to stand up but I feel hands grab my arm. "Ross, honey. Lie back down. You just fainted."

Mum.

"I did not _faint_!" I figure the best way to convince her that I am all right now is to whine. "Warren men do not _faint_. I passed out. Passed. Out. For how long?"

"Just a few minutes." Her voice is heavy with concern. There's a slightly panicky look on her face. She pushes my bangs off my forehead, trying to feel for a fever that I know she won't find. "What's wrong? Do you think it's something you ate?"

"No, Mum. It was just a fluke. I'm fine." I try to stand up again. "I have to go, actually. I don't know when I'll be back, but I'll be at Neville Longbottom's house—"

Interestingly enough, Mum doesn't drag me down again like I was expecting her to. Instead, she actually helps me up. Wow, I never had such an easy time convincing her before.

"Don't be silly, you're going back to bed and laying down. I'll try to make you some Pepper Up potion. If that doesn't work, then I guess we're going to have to take you to Saint Mungo's."

Spoke to soon.

"Muuuuuum! I. Am. Fine. You never believe me. It's getting old. I'm your first born. Don't you know middle children are always the liars and connivers?" Sorry Rhys, I mentally apologize. After Rebekka was born, I swore I wouldn't let Rhys succumb to Middle Child Syndrome. Oh well. This is an emergency.

"Ross!"

We continue to fight as she leads me back to my room. She orders me to stay put and says she should be done with the potion quickly and I'll be "feeling better in no time." I don't have any time! Normally, I would not mind humoring her, but I really have to catch Neville before he goes into work. And I'm not going out in public with steam pouring out of my ears.

Once I hear Mum retreat down the stairs I hastily scribble a note saying that I am sorry for sneaking out, it was an absolute emergency, and she has to understand that I am an adult now and I have things that need to be done.

Thinking of Neville and Luna's little cottage, I Disapparate.

**Chapter Seventy-Seven:**

"Could you repeat that?"

"Look, Neville," I sigh, resigned to explain the whole thing again. "I know it sounds crazy, but you have got to believe me. Since late August, I've been having dreams about this girl. her name is Laurel. She's a vampire. Her siblings are all named after trees and her father and brother-in-law are trying to gather an army. They're going to start at Hogwarts."

We're sitting at the Longbottom's kitchen table. The room is bright and cheery and the warmth is rattling on my nerves for some reason. I anxiously tap my fingers against the wooden table. Neville has a folded up Daily Prophet in front of him. Luna is on the other side of the room, singing to herself as she prepares some weird, multi-colored breakfast.

"Ross, listen."

"No, you listen! Haven't you heard? Something. Is. At. Hogwarts! Something that shouldn't be there! And it's attacking kids! It got my friends Tyson and Indina. You remember them, don't you? They were in Dumbledore's Army."

"Of course I remember them—" Neville started to say but Ross kept talking,

"Once in Dumbledore's Army, always in Dumbledore's Army. You should believe us. Indina got a brief look at it. She said it was dark and leathery. What if it's a Vampire in its bat form?"

"Ross?" Neville puts his face in one of his hands and pinches the bridge of his nose. "Do you have any idea how rare Vampires who turn into bats are? There's probably one in every hundred."

"Well, so? They were trying to gather up an army! Surely one of them could—"

"All right. fine. Even though everyone is going to say that these dreams are just a manifestation of your fears, I'll help you."

"You will?"

Neville nods and pulls out something from his pocket. It's his old DA coin. "You were right. We stand together at the worst of times."

"HELL YEAH!" Celebration. Finally. We're getting somewhere.

"What are we going to do about it? Tell the Minister you're having prophetic dreams?"

"They're not prophetic!" I almost wail because I am so frustrated. So much for my brief moment of celebration. "They happen at the same time! Which means we're running out of time. This is happening. And I promise you, it's real. We've got to get prepared. We've got to keep the kids out of Hogwarts. Get the Aurors and Vampire hunters and volunteers."

Neville nods. "All right. But how are we going to convince everyone?"

"The Hogs Head," I whisper, feeling excited and anxious. "They're still at the Hog's Head. If we hurry, we can get there before sunset and we can question them before they leave. Let's get Shacklebolt and find Laurel and her brother!"

**Chapter Seventy-Eight:**

Over the past week and a half or so, my life has gone down the toilet. Thought you should know so you won't ask dumb questions like "What's that smell?" or "Why is there so much water?" It could be worse, though. It's not like I have to use Moaning Myrtle's toilet. Bright side to everything, I guess.

The Minister was off on business with the Ministers from other parts of the content and by the time we got a meeting with him, it was well-after nightfall and Laurel and her brother were gone.

The only bit of good news is that Aberforth and Dennis confirmed that a couple of Vampires were there that night and stayed during the day. So at the very least, I didn't look totally insane, and I didn't have to get chucked into the Loony Bin. But without "proof" (because my "visions" are not enough, apparently) we can't do anything but wait. Shacklebolt promised to talk to McGonagall and send some sort of protection around the school, though.

What are one Auror and two Vampire hunters going to do? Poke them? I mentioned the words Vampires, war, rebellion, and army. And the Ministry of Magic half-heartedly sends me three bored soldiers in response.

Fantastic.

The rest of vacation was irritating and stressful. I started making plans. Stupid plans, but they'll help me to get proof that I need. I've started sleeping with a journal and ink and quill by my bed so the moment I wake up I can write down everything I can remember from my dreams. I'm going to figure out where Laurel is. Or at least, I'm going to try to. The dreams used to be so clear and detailed- to the point where it was painful- and now they're getting blurrier and blurrier. Remembering is harder and harder.

From what I can tell, they're up in some sort of cave. But they must still be close to Hogwarts. Unless they got some kind of lead that would take them somewhere else. Ugh.

And I'm also going to find that thing living in the forest. Even if it kills me.

Which it probably will. Or at the very least leave me maimed and scarred.

But once I have solid evidence… well, then the Minister will believe me about all this and we can fight back properly.

"Ross? Are you all right?" Lysandra squints at me, looking concerned. She sitting with her back against the window, her feet up on the seat. She has a book on her knees. She always says that she can't read on the train unless she has her back to the window. She says if she can see the world passing by out of the corner of her eye, she'll get vertigo.

"I'm just thinking." About meeting something that goes scratch-your-face-off in the dark and how I'm running off to spy on it tonight.

**Chapter Seventy-Nine:**

"What are you thinking about?" presses Lysandra, abandoning her reading. Maybe her book is boring.

"I didn't know you could think," says Tyson in mock wonderment. He grins and elbows me in the ribs. "Don't hurt your brain, okay, pal?"

"Glad to know that you have retained your wit over the two weeks since we parted."

Hufflepuffs Jenni and Jonah, who are also sharing our compartment, catch each other's eyes and smirk.

"I was just kidding, Ross. You're one of the best people I know. And one of the smartest, though less in a book-smart way and more in a wholly unconventional way."

"You know, I'd probably be swooning by now where it not for the stupid look on your face."

Tyson thinks this is hilarious and practically falls out of his seat, holding his sides together while he howls with laughter.

Jonah laughs too and Jenni shakes her head like I'm some kind of embarrassment to the human race.

I smile a little, as well. I slide out of my seat and decide I ought to find Luke before he comes back from Prefect duties. I can't exactly go wander in the Forbidden Forest on my own in the best of times. Now that something in there is lurking, waiting to eat students, it's necessary to have backup. Normally I would ask Tyson for this kind of thing, but since he is already scratched up… Well, I guess it seems cruel to ask him to go back and face it.

"Where you going?" Lysandra looks suspicious.

"I've got to take a walk," I explain. "You know, stretch. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Right."

She doesn't believe me. But why should she? I close the door the compartment before she can try to get the truth out of me, like she has done so many times before.

I barely walk past our compartment when a hand reaches out and grabs me. I nearly shout in surprise. I'm roughly turned around and then I see a beaming Nick and Ricia. "Hey, Ross," says Ricia, pulling me into a bone-crunching hug.

"Hey, how was Christmas?" I ask. Argh, Ross, why are you making small-talk when you have a mission to complete?

"Fine," Ricia says just as Nick says, "Nuri. Nuri, my last name is Nuri. Don't you think that's a big clue to the fact that I celebrate Chanukah?" He grins as he informs me of this, though.

"Okay, how was Chanukah?"

"Most agreeable. How was your holiday?"

Holiday. Aren't we politically correct. "It was okay. I'm really glad to see you guys, but I've got to go." I wave a little and head back out.

Thankfully, I only have to look for a few more minutes before I stumble onto Luke.

"Hey, Ross. How was Christmas?"

WHY DOES EVERYONE CARE ABOUT MY STUPID CHRISTMAS?! "Interesting. Yours?"

"It was excellent. I-"

"Great. Now I've got something to tell you."

I drag Luke down the corridor until we find an empty compartment. Once I'm sure no one can hear us, I take a deep breath and proceed to tell Luke everything about the dreams—that I've been having them for months, that they're real, and that there's going to be a Vampire rebellion soon. And that they're coming to Hogwarts to get revenge for their injured-by-humans kiddies.

Luke remains stone-cold silent through my whole story, but the expression on his face seems troubled. He's probably running a dozen different diagnoses for me.

"Anyway, that thing that's been attacking kids, that got Tyson and Indina, I think it's a Vampire in its bat state. I think if we can get a good look at it, we will be able to tell what it is and then the Minister could actually do something about it."

Luke's eyes are nearly as big as Galleons. "You're serious, aren't you?"

"Deadly."

Luke sighs and brushes his bangs away from his forehead. He holds his hair there for so long, that when he draws away, his hair looks nearly as deranged as mine. "How do we get proof, though?"

"Aren't pictures worth a thousand words? Maybe this one will be worth a proper army." I smile and pull out a camera from my pocket.


	23. Ch 80 to 83

**Chapter Eighty:**

I listen carefully to the sounds of everyone in my dormitory falling asleep. Meanwhile, I hide behind the hangings in my bed, sitting upright and fully dressed. I have had a lot of coffee and tea. In addition to making me piss frequently, this has insured that I will not get sleepy anytime soon.

I squint at my watch in the dark, waiting for it to be one fifteen. I told Luke I would meet him at two in the morning. I would pick him up from Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. The poor bastard had been in there since twenty minutes before curfew. We decided that since no one ever goes in there, no teacher on patrol would think to check for students there.

Finally, the time is right and I slide out of bed, clutching the Marauder's Map, the camera I "borrowed" from my mum, my wand, and my DA coin. The DA coin will be used for telling Luke whether or not the coast is clear. Not to self: these DA coin things are useful. I should learn how to make them for the younger students.

I pocket the coin and the camera and keep my wand and the map in my hands.

Once out of the dormitory, I hurry down the winding staircase and through the common room. I pause outside the Fat Lady's portrait. I check the map, inspecting the seventh floor corridor. I'm relieved to see it's completely empty.

"Meeting your Ravenclaw girlfriend for a nighttime stroll?"

I nearly drop the map and wand in surprise. Idiot. I should have looked at the common room and made certain it was clear. I stuff the map into one of my pockets and I turn around to look at the armchairs grouped in front of the fire. Lysandra is kneeling on one of them the wrong way; her elbows propped up on the headrest, her chin in her hands, peering at me suspiciously.

"Lysandra, you about scared the Snitch out of me." I manage to smile while I say this because the way Lysandra is sitting in the chair. Only her face, arms and shoulders are visible and she looks kind of funny.

"Where you going?"

"To the kitchens. I'm hungry."

"While I do know that you always hungry, did you really think I missed the fact that after dinner you went down to kitchens and came back with a thermos full of coffee and another with tea? You really don't think I know that you're sneaking out? And since—lately- you never tell me anything, I figured the only way I would find out is if I waited up for you."

"I tell you things."

"No. You don't. You've been weird lately and I keep waiting for you to get over it and you never do. I'm sick of it."

I bit my lip. "Okay. Fine. I'll be honest with you. I think I know what that thing is that attacked Tyson and everyone else. I'm going out with Luke to get pictures of it. And then, when I'm right, the Ministry can do something about it. Happy?"

"Yes," says Lysandra. She is actually smiling. She gets out of the chair; her wand is in her hand. "I'm coming, too."

**Chapter Eighty-One:**

"Like Hell you are!" I didn't mean to yell, but I'm horrified by the idea of Lysandra out there waiting for Scratchy the Demented Vampire Bat in the Forbidden Forest.

"Shut up, you'll wake the whole damn school." She tries to look me in the eye, but she's so short she can't quite manage it. "I get the same grades as you, better in some. I've been to almost as many DA meetings as you. And I want that thing out of the Forbidden Forest as much as you do. I'm not letting you go out there, alone." She crosses her arms, determined and fierce.

I don't have time to argue with her or tell her that I'm not going alone. "Fine. Stay close to me and look away from me."

Lysandra actually laughs at that part. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"Well, I've got something that will help keep us from getting caught when we sneak out. But I swore I wouldn't show it to anyone. Now, please turn around while I make sure that the corridor is clear."

Lysandra raises an eyebrow and smirks slightly, but she humors me and turns away. Once I confirm that no one is patrolling the corridors on this floor, I quickly usher Lysandra out of the common room.

Lysandra keeps her promise. She never looks in my direction, even though she is standing by my side. We have to hide from Filch a couple of times in empty classrooms, but for the most part it is an easy trip down the second floor bathroom.

When we open the door, Luke practically falls into Lysandra's arms. "Oh, thank God," he whimpers. "I brought notes and a few text books and I was studding, but still, it was utterly boring and madding. She wouldn't stop talking to me about the most pointless things. And if I didn't pay attention to every less-than-riveting-word, she'd start wailing. It was awful. If I looked down at my notes too long, she would start bawling."

"Sorry, Luke," I say. "Did you get the stuff I asked you to get?"

He turns to me. "Yes, I got garlic." He pulls it out of his backpack and tries to hand it to me.

I shake my head and pull a face. "No, keep it on you. I hate that stuff."

"It's nearly 2:15, where were you?" He glances from me to Lysandra then realizes that she shouldn't be here. "Oh. Speaking of stowaways… we have another one. Jonah."

The bathroom door swings open, revealing another Hufflepuff seventh-year, Jonah Segel. He smiles awkwardly, pushing back his dark hair off his forehead. "I knew something had to be going on if Prefect Luke was risking the horrors of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. I kept bugging him until he admitted that you guys are going after the thing in the Forbidden Forest."

"YOU TOLD HIM!" I yelp, glaring at Luke.

"Yep," says Jonah. "Folded like cheap dress robes. I want to go with you. I want to help."

"Jonah…"I start. Jonah is great. He's full to burst of amusing stories and the nicest guy around. But he's terrible at Defense Against the Dark Arts and he flounders through DA meetings and mostly goes just to hang out with Indina Joyce.

"I know what you're thinking," says Jonah in a quiet voice. "But I'm not entirely useless. This thing hurt Indina. I want it the hell out of here."

I sigh. There's isn't really time to argue, anyway. "All right, come on."

After telling Luke and Jonah that they can't look in my direction, we head out onto the grounds. Once we're out of the Castle, I wipe the Marauder's Map clean and put it into my pocket. We light our wands and Luke visibly squirms as we start walking into the Forbidden Forest. He groans when we step off the path. We walk for about ten minutes before we stop.

"All right, what are we going to do now? Stand here like idiots?" Lysandra asks.

I shake my head and pull my wand out. "We're going to lure it out." I tap my wand to my hand and immediately my palm starts bleeding.

"UGH!" Luke flinches. "What are you doing?"

Blood flowing freely, I start wiping my hand off on everything I can, the trunks of the trees, the leaves, the grass.

Once I think I left enough bait, and not knowing how to heal my hand, I ball the end of my sleeve up and clutch it tightly in my hand, willing the blood to stop. "Come on," I whisper and pull Luke and Lysandra behind the tree. Jonah trots along after us. "Start putting up protection spells," I instruct. "We've got garlic, but I rather he not get close enough for us to need it."

We spend the next several minutes setting up defensive and concealing charms until finally I feel like we could see and not be seen. Then we wait. I peer out from an old, gnarled tree, clutching the old camera, praying that this works.

**Chapter Eighty-Two:**

After about an hour and a half of crouching behind said tree, I'm understandably very bored. I press my forehead against the tree in frustration and I let my arms dangle, clutching the camera disparagingly.

Lysandra is plucking blades of glass from the earth. Sometimes she braids three or four of them together before she tosses them aside. Luke has his notebook open on his knees, but I'm pretty sure that he is asleep. His head is too far forward and his hair is hanging in his face. Only Jonah is alert, sitting rigidly, twirling his wand..

I'm seconds away from joining Luke in Slumber Land when suddenly I hear a twig snap. I straighten up, my heart pounding erratically. Lysandra looks up as well. She punches Luke and he coughs and blinks rapidly. He bites his lip nervously. Jonah raises his wand.

I hastily hold the camera up to my eye, poised and ready. I nearly drop it when the thing emerges from the darkness, its head bent sharply against the tree, sniffing my blood. I gulp. It's tall. Probably seven and a half feet, at least. Maybe even closer to eight feet. It has pale, sallow skin and dark brown hair. Dark green eyes that reflect the light from the moon, like a cat's would. Its mouth parts, revealing yellow pointed teeth.

It's a Vampire all right. And not only that, I recognize him from the dreams. Pyrite Onyx. Laurel's brother-in-law.

I snap a picture, then several more for good measure. Can't be too careful.

Pyrite's head snaps up at the sound.

Luke's hands fly up to cover his mouth. Lysandra starts chewing on her thumbnail. I slowly back away from the tree, towards Luke, Jonah, and Lyssie and the center of our protective spells. I can't believe that between the four of us, no one thought to cast a charm to muffle noise we make. I chew the inside of cheek.

Pyrite turns his head in our direction. I know he can't see or smells us, but the four of us cower as far back from him all the same. He heard us. He unquestionably heard us.

After what seems an eternity, he turns away. He doubles over and his skin starts bubbling like he's just taken Polyjuice Potion, although instead of turning into a different person (different Vampire?) he starts shrinking and becoming darker. He lifts his arms above his head, and I notice that they look less like arms and more like wings. Bat wings.

Lysandra sticks her finger down her throat and mimes gagging. Luke looks like he isn't far off from actually vomiting. Jonah looks petrified.

Part of me wants to take a picture of the horrible sight, but I don't dare use the camera again.

After what seems like an age but is probably only a couple of seconds, the Vampire's transformation is complete and the bat swoops off into the night.

Jonah, Luke, Lysandra, and I wait, still holding our breaths long after he leaves, making sure he is definitely gone. I get the clove of garlic and start ripping it apart. I divide the pieces amongst the four of us. "All right, put these in your pockets. With any luck, the smell will be enough to keep him away."

"Hurry, let's get out of here before he comes back." Luke is already on his feet, his bag all zipped up. Lysandra nods. "I agree with the Hufflepuff."

"All right, let's go develop these pictures and show them to McGonagall."

**Chapter Eighty-Three:**

The muscles in my legs burn from the effort of bolting out of the Forest and back into the Castle. Jonah and Luke are out of breath and Lysandra's hair is damp and sticking to her forehead. I only allow us a few seconds to catch our breath. If I stay still much longer, I'm positive that I will never move again and we have to get those pictures as soon as possible.

I glance at the Marauder's Map, making sure the way to the dungeons is clear. Once we reach the Potions classroom, I lock the door behind us.

"Luke, since you're the best in this class, would you mind brewing the potion to develop pictures? Lysandra, Jonah, you help him. I'm going to keep watch and I'll distract anyone who comes down here, if need be. If I have to go, please bring the pictures to McGonagall."

"Oh shut up. It's four thirty in the morning. No one is going to be up and about," Lysandra mutters through clenched teeth as she sets up a cauldron and lights a fire. Meanwhile, Luke has his head in the supplies closest, finally emerging with his arms full of various ingredients. "Just keep a lookout. Let the three of us handle this part."

By the time we are done with pictures, it's after six AM and curfew is lifted and we are able to walk freely in the corridors without fear of detention. We pass a few early risers who are already on their way down to breakfast.

I don't know how we would have found our way to McGonagall's office without the Map. When I finally noticed her dot in a room off the second floor and we eventually find ourselves standing beside a nasty old gargoyle and not a door.

This complicates things. But Jonah, Luke, Lysandra, and I barely have time to exchange awkward glances before the gargoyle leaps aside to reveal McGonagall. She must be on her way down to breakfast. Too bad she won't be eating for a while.

"Here, Vampires run amuck on Hogwarts' grounds!" I wave the photographs in McGonagall's face. I don't have time to tell her crap like "Good morning." She blinks and snatches the pictures from me and squints at the newly developed images of the Vampire from the Forbidden Forest.

"We saw him turn into a bat," Luke adds in a quiet voice.

"Yeah, so clearly, it was him who was chomping on the kids," pipes up Lysandra. "Can we please do something!"

"Where did you get_ these_?" McGonagall's voice is deadly and hushed. "_When_ did you get them?!"

"Erm, last night. In the Forbidden Forest," Jonah squeaks.

Before McGonagall can say anything, Lysandra jumps forward. "You can_not_ be upset that we broke curfew when there's a damned Vampire eating kids for dinner in the Forbidden Forest."

McGonagall takes a deep breath and turns to me. "I'm sorry, Warren," she says stiffly. "We didn't take your warnings seriously enough. Now, head off to your common rooms and wait for your heads of House to take attendance. There's a lot of preparations that need to be made and there's no time to waste."

I plant my feet firmly on the ground. "No way. For some reason, whatever it may be, I'm a part of this mess. And I'm going to help fix it. I'm of age. All four of us are, actually. You can't stop us."

McGonagall sighs. She meets my gaze. There's a strange look in her eyes. Respect? When I continue to stare her down, she nods.


	24. Ch 84 to 87

**Chapter Eighty-Four:**

And so the next several hours are horrendous and extraordinarily tedious. McGonagall sends an owl to the Minister. Shacklebolt arrives at Hogwarts within a couple of hours, bringing the Head of the Auror department with him. And for some reason, Neville decided to tag along just because he could. McGonagall sends all the students to their common rooms so their Heads of House can take attendance.

Meanwhile, I'm forced to explain about the stupid stalker Vampire dreams yet again to the Head of the Auror department, a woman named Alyson Allen. I can't help but watch Lysandra's reactions out of the corner of my eye as I recite every detail from the dreams that I can remember. Alyson seems confused but extremely interested in my little story.

Lysandra however, shifts uncomfortably in her seat and tugs at her hair. _Fantastic, she thinks I'm a freak._

"And when exactly is this rebellion supposed to happen?" Alyson presses.

"I don't know." My voice sounds dry and shaky. "Tonight or tomorrow, I would guess. They were waiting for us to get back from winter break. A couple of wizards hurt some Vampire kids. And so the Vampires want to hurt wizard kids."

"How many of them?"

"I don't know. They were talking about finding other clans and getting them to join. I don't know if they've been successful or not. But my Galleons are on success. That guy Pyrite was pretty damn convincing. His father-in-law was all pro-Ministry until he had a one-on-one conversation with him."

"All right," says Alyson. "I guess first thing's first. We've got to evacuate all of the students. Right now. And we've got to gather up volunteers to fight. There's not enough Aurors and Ministry Vampire Hunters to take on this kind of army."

"Not all the students," I protest. "I'm staying. I'm fighting. I'm part of this."

"So am I!" Lysandra insists. Luke nods, too and Jonah takes me completely by surprise by saying, "If you send me away, I'll portkey it right back here."

Alyson looks like she wants to protest but before she can—

"All students who are of age should be allowed to stay," Neville adds, leaning against the doorway. "The Second War wouldn't have ended if it weren't for Harry Potter. He was only seventeen and he stopped Voldemort for good."

"_You_ were seventeen and you destroyed a Horcrux-thingy and punched Voldemort in the face." I hate when Neville's modest. If anyone has the right to brag, it's him.

He laughs and insists that he didn't _punch _Voldemort. Whatever, same thing.

"And I'm _eighteen_. Imagine what incredible feats of strength and wonder I'll be able to pull off!"

McGonagall and Kingsley share a look, and I can tell that they agree. It was McGonagall who let the seventeen and older students fight last time.

I swallow and look at Lysandra and Luke, as if to silently tell them, "This is for real. There's no going back now."

**Chapter Eighty-Five:**

McGonagall's voice, magically magnified, rings throughout the castle. It's so loud that I want to cover my ears they way children do when something's too loud. I resist the urge though as I walk with my friends out of the Head Mistress's office. Jonah waves and runs off, saying something about needing to find Indina.

I wave good-bye to Jonah; my respect for him has grown quite a bit these last few hours. There may be a lot of guys after Indina Joyce, but I think Jonah is the only one who actually deserves her.

"_All students are to report to the Great Hall immediately. All students are to report to the Great Hall immediately." _

McGonagall. She repeats the message over and over again, like a broken record. Lysandra, Luke, and I make our way to the Great Hall. Other students who walk by us have different emotions. The younger kids are excited, chattering away about how they get to miss class. Older students, especially seventh years who were here during for the War, are worried.

As they should be.

"Lysandra! Ross! Luke!" We turn our heads to see Tyson, Ricia, and Nick. All three of them look petrified.

"Hey," grumbles Ricia. "Where were you last night? This morning? Do you have any idea how worried we've been? We thought you got hurt… or worse." Ricia's eyes flicker.

I gulp. She's getting angry. I really want to run away at this point.

"And you all have the nerve to be okay?" she continues, her voice rising. "GAH! You're lucky I don't knock your lights out!"

"Please no violence," grumbles Luke as he takes a few steps away from her. "We've got enough to deal with."

"Shut up, Luke. I ought to hit you after the panic attack you put Mariah through!"

Luke looks up at her, guilt written all over his face.

" Yeah, your girlfriend? Remember her? She was worried when you didn't show up for breakfast. Or class. And you weren't in the hospital wing. And then we talk to Jenni and she says you and Jonah Segel never showed up in the Hufflepuff common room after dinner."

"'Enough to deal with?'" Tyson interrupts, looking from Luke to Lyssie to me. "So you three know what's going on? Why are we meeting in the Great Hall?" Tyson's expression is grim. He knows that McGonagall isn't gathering us for a little chat.

"Yeah, we do," I admit. "It's bad. Really bad. But we don't have time to fill you in. We've got to get down there like, ten minutes ago. McGonagall is going to explain everything."

"How bad is bad?" asks Nick, sounding nervous.

"Really bad. Like stuff that happened at the end of our first year, bad." Sometimes Luke doesn't know when to shut up.

"What, do you mean a war?" Ricia almost scoffs, but when none of us contradict her, her face pales considerably.

"Let's just get to the Great Hall," says Lysandra after an awkward silence falls.

**Chapter Eighty-Six:**

As stupid as it sounds, I feel a wrench in my gut as I see McGonagall stand in front of all her students, at the front of the Great Hall. She closes her eyes for a moment, waiting for everyone to quite down. When the hall finally falls silent, McGonagall holds her head high.

"I'm afraid that I have rather grave news." She pauses, letting her words sink in. "It has come to our attention that Hogwarts is under threat. The Goblins rebelled in 1612. The Werewolves rebelled in the nineties. And now, it seems that Vampires are going down the same route. They placed one of their own in the Forbidden Forest months ago. He attacked several students and eluded ministry capture. He has weakened our defenses. And we have received knowledge that they are planning on attacking Hogwarts in the next few days. Possibly even tonight."

I screw my eyes shut and hang my head as I hear one of the younger students sob. I feel Lysandra's shoulders tense beside me.

"So our first order of business is to remove all students from the school. Any student who is over the age of seventeen will be allowed to stay and fight if they wish. But you must be warned. Fighting Vampires is not like dueling humans. Those of you who are of age and would like to remain here to defend Hogwarts, please stand."

I'm out of my seat before McGonagall finishes her sentence. Lysandra, Tyson, and Ricia stand up next. Then Luke and Nick. Jenni, Mariah, Melissa, Shanna. It seems like nearly every student seventeen and older was on their feet.

McGonagall sighs and Professors Stone, Flitwick, Sprout, and Slughorn start gathering up the underage students. The Heads of Houses take their students to their offices. They're going to use Floo powder to send the students back to their families.

Once all the younger kids are gone, about twenty other people file into the Great Hall. Ministry employees—Kingsley Shacklebolt, Alyson Allen, Neville Longbottom, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and several others I can't name. Luna Lovegood is here, too, though Ministry Employee she is not.

I'm expecting the Minister to get up to the front and make some kind of speech, but as par for the course, I'm wrong. Instead of Shacklebolt, a tall, blonde-haired woman, closely followed by a burly dark haired man, commands the attention of the room.

"Hello, Hogwarts' students," says the woman in a booming voice. She's got dark green eyes that are slightly too large for her face. It makes her look doe-eyed and innocent. "My name is Helena Genesis," she gestures to the man beside her, "and this is my husband Andrew Arvid. We're professional Vampire hunters from the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, Being Division. I'm very grateful and proud of all of you for volunteering for this fight."

"But you've got to learn a few things before you can walk out onto that battlefield," adds Andrew, stepping forward. His dark eyes are too bright, as if he's about to cry. "First thing's first. Pair up and stay together. Be sure to pick someone you know well and trust. Vampire skin is thicker than ours. Most spells' need double the power in order to be effective against them. You're going to have to cast your spells at about the same time. Please, pick your partners now."

Everyone starts to divide up. I smile a little as I notice Indina and Jonah link arms. Lysandra puts her hand on my shoulder. "Partner?" she asks in a quiet voice.

I turn and look at her, eyebrows raised. "You're not picking Tyson?"

**Chapter Eighty-Seven:**

Lysandra shakes her head. "You're my best friend, Ross. I've known you longer. I trust you more than anyone else…"

I try to smile at her, but given present circumstances, I can't quite manage it properly. As a matter of fact, I'm sure my expression looks more demented than anything else. Without thinking, I take her hand in mind. "Same here, Lyssie."

Our little moment is cut short by Andrew plowing on with his speech. "Great, everyone. Now, the Aurors are going come along, handing out bottles of garlic ointment. "I know it sounds disgusting, but I want you to apply the ointment to your main pulse points and on your chests, over your hearts. This stuff won't guarantee that you won't be bitten, but it decreases the chances drastically."

I try not to gag as I'm handed a tiny vial full of garlic paste. I unscrew the lid, my nose scrunching up as the strong smell hits me. I really hate garlic. I hit the bottom of the bottle with the heel of my right hand, letting the glop drop into my left. I rub the stuff into my neck, wrists, and elbows. I yank up my jeans as high as they go to get behind my knees. Feeling uncomfortable, I slide my hand up my shirt and grind the garlic-y mess right over the old ticker. I turn away, my face growing hot, as I notice Lysandra is doing the same thing.

I shift in my seat, feeling uncomfortable. The places where I put the garlic gel feel a bit too warm. I feel like the skin there is being stretched tight. I know it's all in my head do to my hatred of garlic, but it still feels sore. I resist the urge to scratch the salve off.

"Maintain your distance. If you get too close to them, they'll fight you with their bare hands. And they are strong. They can snap your neck as easily as you would break a twig," adds Helena. "If you get under their feet, they can crush your skull the way you would step on a bug."

My stomach twists. Well, that's good to know. Maybe she's exaggerating.

"They have a couple of major weaknesses, such as iron, silver and garlic, but your best bet is fire," cuts in Andrew, "but it just has to be regular fire, nothing magical. Only natural light will harm them. When the sun comes up, that'll be to our advantage. They'll blister and get severe sunburns, but it does not kill them like Muggle legend says. Stronger ones will remain and fight."

"Now," says Helena, "this is most important: Don't let them get your blood. Once Vampires have your blood in their system, they can track you. And they will never stop hunting you."

What does that mean?

"They can pick out your sent in a crowd of several thousand; they can hear your heartbeat more than a hundred miles away. Rumor has it that more powerful Vampires can merely shut their eyes and actually see where you are. Vampire blood has been used in potions for centuries as a spying method, in war and by the jealous and insecure who believe their significant others are unfaithful."

Wait, wait, wait! Vampire blood is used to spy on people?

Suddenly, everything clicks into place. The woman in Knockturn Alley was selling Vampire blood. Why would she sell it if it didn't have powerful magical properties? And when I spilled that Vampire blood… It must have gotten into my own blood stream, and it must have gotten trapped in my hand when Ara healed me. If that blood belonged to Laurel… is that why I have been able to see what she has been up to?

This is what an epiphany feels like.

"What did you just figure out?" Lysandra whispers to me. "You've got 'Ah-ha! Revelation!' written all over your face."

"I'll tell you later."

"Promise?"

"I swear."


	25. Ch 88 to 91

**Chapter Eighty-Eight:**

It doesn't take long for reinforcements to arrive at Hogwarts, among said reinforcements are my own parents. They both look resolved to the worst. I run to them and attempt to cling to my mother like I did when I was five years old. It doesn't work that well considering I'm more than a foot and a half taller than her. She hugs me back though with enough force to squeeze air from my lungs.

"Where are Rhys and Rebekka?" I wheeze.

"They're with Andromeda and Teddy," my dad says matter of factly, clapping me on the shoulder. Mum pats me on the back and steps back. "We've got to go get ourselves ready, honey," she says. "Will you be all right? We'll be back in a few minutes."

"Yeah, I'll be fine," I grumble reluctantly.

They go off to get instructions from some of the Vampire hunters with the other adults and leave me to stand there.

"What do we do now?" I ask out loud.

"Hope for the best."

I turn and see Tyson standing a few feet away, his jaw set and his face bleak. His hands are stuffed in his pockets and his posture's terrible. An image of defeat.

"I take it your mum's not here."

Tyson shakes his head. "Oh, she was here." Tyson's voice is gloomy. "She showed up to try to bring me home. I wouldn't listen though. I mean… I never told you this, but my dad got caught up in the War and he died. I guess Mum's just worried about me. And I get that, but I can't just run and leave you and Lys and Luke everyone else… And since I refused to leave, Mum left and she's furious with me. And I'm probably going to die out there and I'll never see her again.

I'm very tempted to "pull a Ricia" and smack him upside the head. However, I settle for glaring at him with my best withering stare. "What are you doing, _you idiot_! Don't talk like that! You're not going to die! I mean, what is wrong with _you_?"

Tyson shrugs. "I just got a bad feeling about all this."

I shake my head. "You're insane. You're terrible at Divination, so shut up about '_bad feelings'_ and crap. You're just nervous. I am, too. And so is everyone else with any brains."

Tyson manages a lopsided smile. "In any case, there's something I want to tell you. So shut up and listen."

"What?"

"I'm not dating Lysandra. We've never even been on date."

**Chapter Eighty-Nine:**

I close my eyes and shake my head. "Say what?"

Tyson suddenly brightens. "You don't think I've known that you've had a stick up your arse all year? You don't think I know _why_? I know you've got it bad for Lysandra."

"Shut up. What do you mean you two aren't dating?" I press. This is highly interesting and incredibly life-altering information.

"I mean, I was seventeen and never gone out with a girl. Never snogged anyone. Never had a girlfriend." Tyson's face scrunches up like he's tasting something bad.

"Really? Never? You never liked anyone?"

"Oh, I like someone. But I don't have a chance with her. I'm not her type."

"Ooh, who is it?"

"Shut up."

"Tell me!"

"No!"

"TYSON!"

"Fine. Indina."

"Really?"

"Sure," he says, but clearly he's lying.

I'm going to bring this up again at a later date.

"Anyway, my mum was always on ragging on me about the never dating thing," Tyson continues. "I think she was convinced I didn't like girls, if you know what I mean. And I was tired of her always getting on my case about it." Tyson looks heartily embarrassed but continues on. "And interestingly enough, a lot of the girls had been teasing Lysandra about never going out with anyone. So we made a deal…"

I stare at Tyson as if he suddenly announced he was actually an exotic dancer from Tibet named Topanga Merryweather. And then I suddenly realize something. They had been "dating" for months but the only time I'd seen Lysandra and Tyson act like a couple had been at Neville and Luna's wedding… and Tyson's mum had been there. Their public displays of affection had been just that. Displays.

"So you were just pretending to go out?"

Tyson nodded. "Yup. I thought it might make you finally grow a sack and ask her out. But you didn't. And Lysandra has tried to tell you the truth a couple of times but she kept getting interrupted and you were avoiding her... I thought you would like to know. If we make it out of this alive, I'll ditch her publicly and you'll have to go comfort her." He smirks, pleased with himself.

I'm still not fully convinced. "What about last year? I saw the two of you snogging in Hogsmeade."

Tyson scrunches up his face again, embarrassed. "I was telling her how I never kissed anyone… she felt bad for me. Said something about how first kisses should be with someone who cares about you."

I roll my eyes, but internally the hallelujah chorus is singing at full volume. If not for the rebellion that's surely hours away, this would be one of the best days ever.

Tyson reaches up to flick my shoulder. "C'mon, mate. Let's just—"

But whatever it was we were going to do, I am never going to know. At that moment, a loud metallic creaking echoes throughout the castle. And then a deafening crash.

**Chapter Ninety: **

Tyson and I share a glance before joining the mad rush to the windows. Since I'm the second tallest person in the room besides Hagrid, I can get a pretty good view over everyone else's heads. Unfortunately, it's not a pretty sight. In fact, I'm sure it's going to haunt me. If I could go back to a couple minutes ago, I'd choose not took look.

It's them, the Vampires. There's a couple hundred of them at least. And the screaming and screeching sounds are coming from the front gate. They're tearing it down with their bare hands. Great. The little hope I had that Helena was exaggerating when she said Vampires were strong enough to crush us like bugs is now officially dead. I gulp and try to fight back the hysteria rising in my stomach. How did they break through the school's magical defenses so quickly?

The gate gives a final squeal and falls into a heap on the ground. The Vampires crawl over it and spill out onto the Hogwarts grounds. Despite the distance, I can tell that they're being led by Laurel's brother-in-law, Pyrite.

Tyson was right. We're all going to die.

_No one is going to die! You did good, you got everyone prepared. You got the younger kids out. And they won't be expecting this much resistance. C'mon Warren. You want to be an Auror. This is the kind of thing you're going to have to do every day. Well, not Vampires. Those are typically left the hunters, but you know what I mean—_

_Ross, shut up! War is upon you! Remember? _

_Oh yeah. _

"They're here!" someone screams.

"Everyone, find your partners!" shouts Andrew, running over to the window to get a glimpse himself. "Get ready. It's time!"

I anxiously scan through the crowd, finally spotting Lysandra's dark blonde hair just as she turns and sees me, as well. We start pushing through the swarm; everyone is panicking, searching for loved ones. Lysandra and I finally make it within arm's length of each other. Lyssie reaches her hand out. Heaving in a deep breath, I take her hand in mine and together we follow the mass of people out into the Entrance Hall, just as the walls begin to quake.

I have sudden flash-backs of the first war, when Voldemort would magnify his voice loud enough for the whole of Hogwarts and Hogsmeade to hear.

"All right," shouts Andrew over the din. "Everyone with their partners? Good. Stay together. You're going to need each other."

Lysandra squeezes my hand. I return the pressure, mostly to keep my hands from shaking.

Helena continues where her husband left off. "The other hunters are going out first, the front line, if you will. The Aurors will follow. Then the teachers and parents and other volunteers. Those of you who are still students will stay with Andrew and me. We're going to go out last."

Lysandra and I lock eyes, still holding hands, while the fighters slowly empty out the Entrance Hall, until only the students, Helena, and Andrew are left.

**Chapter Ninety-One: **

Still holding hands so we won't get separated, Lysandra and I follow Helena and Andrew, and the mass of other students, out into the front lawn. It's worse than I even imagined. It's pure, unadulterated hell.

Seriously, it _is _hell. There's even fire, both natural and magical, freely burning along the edges of the Forbidden Forest. A Vampire lunges toward a man with a bloody scratch running down his face. The Vampire stops dead as someone conjures a silver dagger. The dagger flies straight into the Vampire's heart. The Vampire falls over. I nearly stop dead in my tracks at the sight.

I hadn't seen the actual battle during the last war. I had only been twelve at the time and me and the other underage students had been sent to Hogsmeade. I guess I always pictured it more like a scene from a book, glory and honor, and all that. But I was wrong. There's no glory in any of this. I guess there's a little bit of good in the fact that we're protecting the younger kids.

A sudden scream echoes across the grounds.

Lyssie and I turn and see a male Vampire dragging Indina across the ground by her hair. Lysandra swears loudly as I shout out something intelligible. The Vampire stops and turns to look at us, a smirk on his face.

"Stun him on three," whispers Lysandra.

"One, two, three!"

_"Stupefy_!"

The Vampire keels over, out cold.

"Thanks," Indina calls. She stands up and whirls around."Duck!" she screams at Lysandra and me. Confused, we slump to the ground. "_Incendio_!" A speeding jet of fire shoots past the top of Lysandra's and my hair. We hear a prolonged cry of agony and a thud.

"I did it!" Indina sounds surprised and elated.

I stand up and take a tentative look over my shoulder. A second Vampire, practically encased in an inferno, is squirming and twisting on the ground, trying to smother the flames. I help Lysandra to her feet. "C'mon! That won't stop him long. We're supposed to use non-magical fire, remember? Go!" I shout.

Lysandra and I run, pulling Indina along with us. "Indy, where's your partner?"asks Lysandra. She sounds furious.

Indina's brow furrows. "Jonah… and I don't know where he is. One of them snuck up on him. I grabbed my wand and shot a stunning spell at the thing. But he could barely even feel the spell. We can't cast strong enough spells on our own… I tried Incendio, but I only kept getting sparks. And that's when that other one started to drag me off." She blinks back tears. "I can't stand this! We've _got_ to go find him."

"We'll get him," I say, even though part of me is screaming that Jonah is already dead. Poor, lumbering, kind-hearted Jonah. He never did very well in DA meetings.


	26. Ch 92 to 95

**Chapter Ninety-Two:**

Regrettably, I was right about Jonah. About an hour later, after fighting three more Vampires that led us into the Forbidden Forest, Indina, Lysandra and I stumble upon a body. The body is bloody; its stomach ripped open. Even though I'm not too great at anatomy, I can tell that several major organs are missing. And its face… Its face is so severely scratched and mangled that it is practically torn off. But it's wearing Jonah's clothes. It's holding Jonah's wand.

I feel a hand fly up to cover my mouth as I fight the impulse to gag.

Oh, no. Jonah.

Lysandra gasps and shuts her eyes tight, looking the other way. Indina wails. She falls to her knees beside Jonah's body. She takes his bloody hands in hers. "Jonah!" she screams helplessly, rocking back and forth. "Jonah! Please!"

Lysandra hitches a sob herself and presses her face into my side. Without thinking, I put my arm around her.

"Indina, please, be quiet."

Carse Hole steps out from behind a tree. He's got his wand in one hand and a silver dagger in the other. He's covered in blood, maroon blood that gives off a faint glint. Vampire blood. Wow, he's good at the Vampire slaying. Maybe he should forget about his Auror ambition and take that up. I look beyond Carse Hole and notice several charred Vampire bodies, dumped haphazardly.

I suddenly realize that after Carson killed all of them, he dragged them away from Jonah's body. Surprisingly sensitive of him.

Carson kneels beside Indina, putting a hand on her shoulder. "C'mon, Indy."

"What happened?" Indina chokes out between sobs.

Carson looks like he doesn't want to tell her. He sighs. "You and Jonah were separated and Sage is badly injured so Jonah and I started working together. Six of them attacked us. By the time I got away… They were ripping Jonah apart. I didn't… didn't get there in time." His voice breaks. "But I still… Well, I burned their bodies."

"Oh, Jonah!" Indina leans over his body, getting blood all over her clothes.

"Please, Indina, be quite," Carson whispers through clenched teeth. "They'll hear you. And I need a moment to rest." He helps Indina to her feet. She turns her face into his shoulder and continues crying. But while she shakes back and forth with sobs, she remains silent.

**Chapter Ninety-Three:**

Carson doesn't take long to rest and so we're not allowed much time to grieve over Jonah. Indina is still hiccupping and wiping her eyes as Carson nudges her forward. "C'mon, Indy. We don't have time for this right now. We've got to keep fighting or else we'll end up like him."

So much for the surprisingly sensitive version of Carson.

Indina takes deep, shuttering breaths but grudgingly starts walking. Carson keeps his arm around her, guiding her forward.

"I say the four of us stay together," Carson says as we trudge through the Forbidden Forest, trying to find the path again. We're hopelessly lost and turned around. "There's so many of them. More than I thought, at least three hundred, from all over Europe. I swear to you, one of them was cursing at me in Polish. We're outnumbered and it takes at least two of us to fight one..."

Great, I'm lost in the Forbidden Forest in the middle of a war and Carson Hale is one of my allies. I officially hate life. While we walk, Carson conjures three more silver daggers. He hands one to each of us.

Ooh. Cool. I swing the dagger around, feeling impressive. Maybe Carson's not so bad after all.

"How about—" Lysandra starts to suggest but Carson holds up a hand, silencing her. "Listen," he mouths and points off to the left.

We stop walking and strain our ears. Someone's screaming in the distance. A girl. "Ughh! When I get out of this, you pasty leeches are in big trouble!"

Someone else cries out in pain, a boy this time.

"STOP IT!" shrieks the girl. "You scratch him again and I'm going to mount your severed head over my fireplace! STOP IT!" She screams again.

"Shut up," shouts back a third voice. "You talk too much, you stupid little girl."

My stomach clenches. I know who the girl is; it's Ricia. No one else would threaten and verbally assault their captors like that. I'm betting that boy is either Tyson or Nick. Maybe both of them. I turn and look at Lysandra. Her face is set.

"We've got to help them!" I start to run forward, but Carson grabs my sleeve and tugs me back. I turn to glare at him.

"Stop it. Wait a moment. We can't go charging in their like idiots, waving our wands. Let's move quietly," Carson instructs. "They might be distracted enough that they won't smell us. We can get a better look at the situation."

We try to move as swiftly and silently as possible, doing our best to follow the sounds of the screaming and yelling. After about three or four minutes, we can make out a clearing. Peering through the trees, I make out seven Vampires, including Pyrite. Ricia, Tyson, and Nick are lying on the ground, their wrists and ankles bound. It's too dark, I can't tell if they're injured or not. If they're breathing…

"All right. Seven of them," whispers Carson, assessing the situation. "All right we need to—"

A twig snaps in the distance. Lysandra clutches my sleeve. We look fearfully over our shoulders, mentally preparing ourselves for new horrors.

And we are instantly relieved.

It's Michael Corner.

**Chapter Ninety-Four:**

Michael manages a slight smile when he sees us. This is kind of frightening do to the fact that he is holding his wand in one hand and a swinging an iron crowbar in the other. "Aw man," he whispers, turning to me. "I bet Parvati that it was _you_ the Vampires carried off. Guess I'm out five galleons."

"Really? Now?" I say.

"It's a joke? You know, since I saved you from the Death Eaters that one time."

"Ha-ha."

"Back up is coming," says Michael, all serious now. "We saw a few kids being dragged away. When we tried to follow, others attacked us; trying to stop us from going after the kids. One of the hunters told me to slip away and go on ahead to scout out the situation. They'll probably be on their way in a few minutes. Sooo… What _is_ the situation?"

"They have three students," answers Carson. "There's at least seven of _them_. Probably more."

Ricia suddenly screams again. Just hearing her is agony. When she's done screaming, she shouts, "Ooh, is that the best you got? C'mon on you overgrown tick. Kill me already and get it over with!"

"NO! No! Please. Don't touch her," Tyson groans. "If you really feel the need to beat up a wizard—"

Tyson's voice is cut off by a loud thud. I'm guess he was either kicked or punched. "Then torture _you_?" replies a deeper voice. Pyrite. "How touching." There's another crunching sound and Tyson bellows.

Michael shakes his head. "To hell with waiting." He turns to the rest of us. "Get as far away from me as you can. Try going to the other side of the clearing. I'm going to try to lure them out. You try to get the kids out of there and find your way out of the forest."

"You're crazy!" interrupts Carson. "You're going to get yourself killed."

"I'd rather die than hear that poor girl scream again."

Michael shoos us away, insisting that three or four Aurors, Hermione Granger, and Parvati Patil were on their way. We do as he says and creep clockwise around the edge of the clearing. We watch Michael run along the opposite side, banging the crowbar on the trees, possibly trying to create the illusion that there are many people on the way, not just one.

To my utter amazement, five of the Vampires exit the clearing, getting ready to face off their attackers. Only two—Pyrite and one of his henchmen- are left behind with Tyson, Ricia, and Nick.

Carson holds up his dagger. "This is so not smart," he notes. "Follow me."

We leave behind the cover of the trees and charge into the clearing. Pyrite looks faintly amused by our rescue attempt… until Carson flies forward and sinks his danger into the other Vampire's heart. The Vampire screams and starts jerking and twitching as if he had been poisoned.

Pyrite screams in range pulls something from his cloak.

A wand.

And suddenly our wands and our daggers fly out of our hands and fly off into the night. Pyrite turns and glaring, points the wand directly at Carson. Carson who is standing there, his eyes wide, unable to move. Without thinking, I push Carson out of the way, yelling "Duck, you moron."

Just as there's a flash of faint green light.

**Chapter Ninety-Five:**

"Ross!" Lysandra screams.

I fall to the ground, clutching my sides. Even though I feel like I got hit in the stomach by a charging rhinoceros, I'm rejoicing. That was Avada Kedavra, it had to be. But I'm not dead. I'm not dead! I roll on to my side clutching my stomach. This is the worst pain I've ever felt in my life. Even worse than the Cruciatus Curse. _But I'm not dead._

My stomach heaves and I cough violently. I taste blood in my mouth, I feel it bubbling over my lips and dripping down my face. No, I'm not dead.

Not yet.

Lysandra starts to take a step towards me, but Pyrite turns his wand on her. "Don't any of you move!"

Lysandra, Carson, and Indina freeze and then all three of them topple over, completely paralyzed. Ricia, Tyson, and Nick struggle feebly against their bonds but it's no use.

Pyrite turns back to me, crouching at my side. There's a strange expression on his face.

He sniffs me. Disgusting. "You've seen Laurel?" he barks, his voice sharp and stern. "She's… _here_?!"

I shake my head.

"Don't lie to me! I can smell her! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?!"

He wipes some of the blood off my face and brings his fingers close to his face, inhaling deeply. He suddenly laughs. "Well, well, well. That's interesting. Seems your fighting on the wrong side, little brother."

"What?" I manage to wheeze between bloody coughing fits.

"You don't know?" Pyrite seems surprised. "It was hard to distill from all that putrid human stink, but you have Vampire blood running through your veins!" His voice is filled with wonder, like he just discovered some long-lost artifact. "Judging by your height, I'm guessing it was one of your great-grandparents."

"You're… crazy. Great-grandparents… all Muggles." I try to explain about the blood at Ara's shop but Pyrite just laughs and shakes his head. "Not a chance. I can tell the difference between Laurel's sent and your own. Let me guess, you have a strong hatred of garlic and overcooked food? You sunburn easily? Maybe your eyes reflect light… like a cat's?"

Yes to the first two. I don't like overcooked food and I really hate garlic. But plenty of people hate garlic. And who in their right minds likes overcooked food? I do fine in the sun. I'm human. I'mhumanI'mhumanI'MHUMAN!

"Where—" cough "—did you get—"cough"—wand?"

Pyrite smirks. "Humans raided on my camp last summer. Normally, when they realize they can't escape us, they snap their wands in half. Sometimes they don't get the chance. We usually burn the wands with their bodies. But this particular one…. Well, he thought it would be funny to blind my daughter. And that was the last straw. So I decided I was going to keep his wand and insure that we're finally heard. It's been easy. All I have to do is concentrate on what I want and point. Oh, it's not perfect, since I don't know any of the incantations, but it gets the job done most of the time. Sometimes it takes two or three tries."

He leers at me. "You know, more than half of those clans out there didn't want to join me. My own father-in-law wasn't even behind me. But one little meeting with their leaders, and they would do whatever I told them to. I'm going to have a little talk with your Minister and he's going to finally see things my way. We're getting wands. Our children will be allowed to study here at your school. _We're finally going to get equal rights_. Now if you'll excuse me," he tucks his wand back into his coat. "I have an appointment."

He steps over me and leaves the clearing, leaving me to slowly bleed to death internally while half my friends are paralyzed and the other half are tied up. And even if we were physically able to move, we don't have any wands or weapons. The others might be found eventually, but there's no hope for me.

I'm going to die.


	27. Ch 96 to 100

**Chapter Ninety-Six:**

I have no idea how long I lay there, practically vomiting up my lungs. But it was the longest and most painful stretch of my life.

Everything starts fading to black and my insides are aching. Every once in a while, in between fits of unconsciousness, Ricia murmurs something about how she's moments away from breaking free and she'll carry me up to the hospital wing.

She's amazing. I'm sorry I didn't get to know her sooner. Sorry that I'll never know her later. I try to say something to her, but I can't find my voice.

For a moment, I think I hear footsteps approaching, but I know it's just wishful thinking. My coughing eases and I know I probably only have a few minutes left.

Someone gasps. No… it's just the wind.

Something gentle brushes across my face and parts my lips. "C'mon on, honey. Just a few sips." I feel something slide down my throat. It's not quite water, but I can't think of what else it would be. "Come on!" I feel my head tilt back.

I take a deep shuddering breath, a wonderful smooth gulp of air unmarred by coughing and choking on blood. The darkness is suddenly a brighter and less black, more like dark blue. I blink and I see a blurry thing floating above me.

A face. A vaguely familiar face with dark, kohl-lined eyes framed by black hair.

I take in another breath and I suddenly realize the pain is gone.

Ara. From the shop in Knockturn Alley. "Yes, it's me," she confirms. "What happened?"

I explain quickly about how Pyrite had a wand and was aiming to kill. It probably didn't work as well since he didn't know the actual name of the killing curse; the wand was just firing spells based on Pyrite's emotions.

"Wow… You owe me big. I just saved your arse with Phoenix tears. Do you know how long it took me to find a phoenix? And don't even get me started on what I had to go through to make it cry." She tucks a half-empty vial into her a pouch dangling from her belt.

"Then why did you waste it on me?" I demand as Ara starts cutting the ropes binding Nick, Tyson, and Ricia.

"Because you're a dumb little kid. You didn't deserve to go out like that. Not to mention, you probably saved a lot of lives tonight. I thought the least I could do was make sure you didn't die."

"What do you mean?"

"The Ministry had fair warning about this little battle. I'm guessing it was you?" Ara is busy pulling weird herbs and plants out of yet another pouch and feeding them to Nick, Tyson, and Ricia. "I tried to tell them months ago and they laughed me out of the building."

"How did you know about it?" I ask.

"Same reason you did. The Vampire blood, the stuff from that girl. That bit you spilled in the shop was only half of what I took from her. I experimented on some of it. Once a bit of it got into my blood stream, I started being able to see her."

"You could have warned me that was going to happen!"

"One, I thought I got all of it off you. Two, I thought you were human."

"I AM HUMAN!"

"Not entirely."

**Chapter Ninety-Seven:**

Ara looks over at me. "I'm one forth Vampire. My fiancé, who is fully human, took a little of Laurel's blood and it didn't do anything to him. When he mixed it in a potion with some of my hair, he was suddenly much more aware of _me_ for several weeks, until it burned out of his system."

She smiles up at me. "When I first took it, I could close my eyes and see what she was up to. It's fading now though. I have to be asleep to see her now. The blood's only just starting to leave my system."

I stare at her. "I_ can't_ be part Vampire. My whole family is made up of Muggles!"

Ara shrugs. "Maybe you're adopted."

"No! No way!"

Ara shrugs. "A lot of half-breeds are ditched. My mother was. My grandmother seduced a married human man, Cyngus Black. When he found out she was expecting her child, he told her he was thrilled and that he was leaving his wife. And my grandmother was so happy. She had my mother and named her Ara, because everyone in the Black family was named after stars and concatenations. She wanted to keep up the family tradition." Ara scoffs. "Of course, he never showed up. After a few years, my grandmother gave up on Cygnus and left my mum for dead."

I stare at Ara but she explains the story nonchalantly as she tends to my beaten friends' wounds.

"She was rescued by a Muggle human family who decided to adopt her. They had no idea why all food except the rawest of uncooked meat made her sick…."

I refuse to believe I'm adopted. But… there is an awfully big age gap between my siblings and me. Dad used to tell me that they couldn't handle another kid until I went off to school. But maybe that wasn't true. Maybe they just _couldn't_ have kids before that. _Am I adopted_?

"Do they just have the full-body bind on them?" Ara asks, looking at Lysandra, Carson, and Indina. Oh great. They heard every word Pyrite and Ara said about me.

However, once they're free to move again, no one mentions anything about Vampires and adoption. Lysandra throws her arms around me and hugs me, muttering if I ever scare her like that again she'd never speak to me again. Indina gives me a quick hug and tells me she's glad I'm alive. Carson looks at me for a moment then says, "Thank you. That was really…."

"A reflex," I say quickly.

He nods. "We should get back to the grounds."

"These three can't move," Ara says, gesturing to Ricia, Tyson, and Nick. "The bones in the girl's left leg are shattered. The boy with the scar," she gestures to Tyson, "might never move his left arm again. I'm staying with them. And the rest of you aren't going anywhere."

"We have to!" I say. "Pyrite is after Kingsley Shacklebolt. He's going to put the Imperious Curse on him. we've got—"

"You don't 'got' to do anything," Ara snaps. "You did your part and you just nearly died. You would have died if that Vamp had known to say 'Avada Kedavra.'"

"I can't just sit here! He's going to put the Minister under his control! Kingsley won't be expecting Pyrite to be able to do magic… He's practically a sitting duck."

"Maybe you haven't noticed, Honeybee, but you don't have a wand or any weapon of any kind." Ara's expression is grim. "You leave, you will die. And since I just used up half my phoenix tears healing you, I'm not going to let you waste them by dying ten minutes later. You try to leave and I'll put you under the full body-bind."

**Chapter Ninety-Eight:**

"Fine, I'll go look for our wands. They can't have gone too far," I say hopefully, stepping tentatively forward.

Ara narrows her eyes. "Take Blondie here with you," she says, gesturing towards Lysandra. "If you hear one sound, a twig snap, anything, you hurry back here. You have ten minutes or I send the boy after you." Her eyes flick towards Carson.

We don't have to go far to find our wands. Just a few feet past the clearing. I try looking for the daggers but Lysandra says they probably vanished, as all conjured objects eventually do.

We bring the wands back to the clearing, the Lumos light reflecting off Ara's eyes, like a cat's, like Pyrite said mine would. I'm glad they don't. It's creepy.

After Tyson produces more silver daggers, Ara grudgingly agrees to let us go. "But if you die, kid, your ghost is going to fetch me new Phoenix tears," she warns me fiercely.

Indina volunteers to stay behind and help Ara, so Lysandra, Carson, and I head back to the battle without her. I silently ask Whoever Might Be Listening for Ara and Indina to be left in peace until this is all over. I want Ara to be able to tend to my friends and I want Indina to be able to grieve for Jonah without anyone coming to bother her.

"How do we find our way out of here?" I ask. "We can't really afford to go in circles right now. Time is of the essence and all that crap…"

"There's a spell for that," Carson says quickly. He tucks his silver dagger under his arm so that he can place his wand in the palm of his hand. "Hogwarts School of Witch Craft and Wizardry. Point me," says Carson matter-of-factly. Like a compass, the wand spins and points us in the right direction.

"Nice," I tell him sincerely.

He shrugs. "I learned it from a book."

"You Ravenclaws and your reading…" I hate to admit it, but Carson is good at this. Probably better than me.

We step off the path and fight through trees and branches, careful not to stumble on roots or stones. Every few minutes, Carson mutters "Point me!" to make sure that we haven't strayed off course. After about fifteen minutes, Lysandra stops dead in her tracks. She grabs me by the sleeve. "Don't move," she whispers.

Carson skids to a halt and turns to look at her.

We remain there, still as statues until we hear voices.

"We're never going to cut through here quick enough," hisses a deep voice. "This was a stupid idea. We should have just gone through the front gate. Didn't you hear them tear it down?"

"Of course I heard it, the whole damn country heard it," snaps another voice. A lighter, gentler voice. A familiar voice. "But if we go in through the gate, some Hunter will think we're one of them and they'll stop us before we can reach Pyrite."

I can hear the dull thuds of their footsteps getting closer. They're running right towards us.

**Chapter Ninety-Nine:**

Carson presses a finger to his lips and gestures towards himself as if to say, "Don't worry. I got this."

"Wait, Carson," I start to say.

Carson stalks forward, his dagger ready. He raises his arm just as two tall figures emerge, one of whom I would know anywhere. Same bright blue eyes, dark hair that contrasts sharply with her angled, colorless face. It's Laurel. Exactly like I saw her. And the bloke… her brother. Ash.

Carson hurls his dagger forward. Not Laurel. She's never hurt anyone. No more killing. This has to stop now. The dagger flies through the air and in my panic, the only thing I can think to do is shout "_Accio _dagger!" I catch it.

Ash and Laurel turn at the sound of my voice. Lysandra raises an eyebrow and Carson looks furious.

"Ross. What. The hell. Was THAT?!" he bellows.

"Don't hurt her," I say. "Her name is Laurel Redwood. And she's here because she wants to talk some sense into her insane brother-in-law. She's trying to stop this madness. And Ash is trying to help her, too. They've come all the way from Wales trying to keep this from happening."

Laurel turns to me, her eyes wide and alarmed. She takes a few steps away from me. "How do you know that?" she whispers.

"Um… it's a really long story. Let's just call it magic. Anyway… Er…" I cough. You know what? A change of subject is probably the best course right now. Not to mention, keeping things in prospective, like the bloody battle that's carrying on!

"Since we know you, you should know us. I'm Ross. These are Lysandra and Carson. Anyway, I'm glad you're here. I've figured out some stuff."

"Like what?" asks Ash. His dark eyes are almost slits they're so narrow. Laurel keeps staring at me like I just pulled a live animal out of my mouth; like she can't figure out if she's impressed or totally horrified and disgusted.

I laugh in that horribly irritating way I do when I'm really uncomfortable. "Pyrite has a wand and he's been casting a spell that makes people obey him. That's how he got your dad and more than half of everyone else that's here."

"WHAT?!" yelps Ash. "That's not possible…"

"He got it from some wizards who raided on his village or whatever," I try to explain. "He doesn't actually know any spells. But if his emotions are strong enough and he's capable of causing a lot of damage. And if we don't stop him, he's going to put the Minister of Magic under the curse and everything is going to get completely ruined," I add in a rush. "So let's erm… get going."

Laurel makes a move to step towards me, Lys, and Carson, but her brother throws out a hand to stop her. "And how are we supposed to trust you?" asks Ash.

I shrug. "We want the same things. I know that you're not here to fight and I'm not exactly pleased that my family and friends are out there fighting. This needs to stop." With that, I drop Carson's dagger and my own on the ground. I make a point of deliberately stepping away from them.

Ash continues to stare me down for several awkward moments. At long last, he gives a slight nod.

And so with new allies, we make our way back to the battlefield. With any luck, we're not too late.

**Chapter One Hundred: **

We finally come to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, lingering on the outermost edges. It's a relief to breathe in the clean, open air out on the grounds…. Until the stench of blood reaches my nose.

The fighting is still going on in full force, which as unfortunate as it is, is actually a good sign. Pyrite hasn't reached Shacklebolt yet. If the Minister was Imperiused, he would have called off the fighting by now.

I cough, trying not to breathe through my nose. When I complain about the smell, Lysandra and Carson look at me like I'm just imagining things. However, Ash and Laurel both stare at me. Laurel nods and raises an eyebrow, as if to say, "You smell it, too?"

It probably doesn't smell bad to them, though. I bet it smells like fresh grilled chicken to them. I'm practically gagging, however. But maybe that's because I now associate the smell of human blood with Jonah.

"Keep your eyes out for the Minister of Magic, or Pyrite…" I say. I give a rough description of the Minister for Laurel's and Ash's sakes and I tell Carson and Lysandra what Pyrite looks like. "All right," I murmur through clenched teeth. "It's now or never. We've got to stay together. And refuse to fight. Vampire, human, half-giant, or alien from planet Vorta. We've got to make them hear us."

"Alien from planet Vorta?" Laurel repeats.

"Just… forget it. Let's move."

We step out from the trees and make our way across the grounds, our eyes sweeping across every face in the hopes of finding Kingsley Shacklebolt or Pyrite.

"Is that your Minister?" asks Laurel, pointing to someone several yards ahead.

"DUCK!" someone shouts.

I turn and see a dimly familiar-looking man and woman running frantically towards us, wands pointed at Laurel and Ash.

"No! Stop!" I wail. I run forward and grab the man's forearm, causing his spells to shoot up into the sky. Sparks rain down on us as the woman's spell harmlessly bounces off Laurel and Ash. "They're not here to fight us," I continue through clenched teeth. "All right? They're here to help!"

"Och," the man huffs in an Irish accent. "Not likely."

The accent helps me recognize him. Seamus Finnigan. The woman could only be Lavender Brown. We were in Dumbledore's Army together.

"It's a long story," I sigh. "But I swear on everything- on my life, on my friends' and families' lives, that these two are here to help us. Stop fighting. Please. We've got to get to the Minister- have you seen him anywhere?"

Lavender and Seamus both look skeptical but they take a step backwards and lower their wands. "I saw Kingsley and McGonagall chase after the Vampire leader," Lavender offers after a few moments of silence. "They were headed towards the Castle."

I share a panic stricken look with Lysandra and then she, Carson, Laurel, Ash, and I all head off towards Hogwarts.


	28. Ch 101 to 103

**Chapter 101: **

It's probably only a couple of dozen yards to the school, but we have to fight our way through angry wizards and Vampires. We talk several humans out of cursing Laurel and Ash and thankfully Laurel and Ash only had to talk sense into one Vampire that came our way.

"I don't… see them…" Carson pants as the Castle finally looms into view.

"Maybe they went inside," notes Lysandra. "The less distractions for Pyrite, the less witnesses, the better he'd feel."

Not to mention no one being there to help, I add silently. Instead I say, "Hang on…" I instruct everyone to "keep watch" or in other words, turn away from me so I can inspect The Marauder's Map. After a few moments of frantic searching, I finally notice Pyrite Onyx and Kingsley Shacklebolt in the Great Hall. I can't find any sign of McGonagall.

"They're in the Great Hall," I say, "Let's move!"

"Shouldn't we make more silver daggers?" Carson mutters as we frantically climb up the front steps and open the heavy doors.

Laurel's eyes widen at Carson's words. "You won't kill him, right?" Laurel pleads. "Pyrite. You're just going to incapacitate him?"

"Laurel!" Ash scolds.

She glares at him. "He's our _brother_!"

"In-law," Ash finishes.

"Whatever. He's Willow's husband, Jasper and Jade's father."

"No, I'm not going to kill him," I assure her as hold open the door for Laurel, Ash, Lysandra and Carson. "I wouldn't even know how. And not to mention the fact that killing him… well. That'll probably just cause more problems."

I glare at Carson to keep him from saying, "/ could kill him." I can almost hear him say it.

"Uh-oh," Lysandra gasps. She turns my attention back towards the grounds. Vampires, twelve at least, are all headed towards us, most of them carrying makeshift weapons, like huge branches ripped unceremoniously from the trees around the edge of the Forbidden Forrest. "Pyrite must have ordered backup…"

"Go," growls Ash. "We'll hold them off. Try to talk sense into them…"

I nod and hold out my hand. It takes Ash a moment, but he finally realizes we're supposed to shake. His grip hurts my fingers a bit.

Laurel and Ash go back out towards the door and slam it behind them, leaving me, Lyssie, and Carson to stop Pyrite.

We run across the Entrance Hall and skid towards the door that leads to the Great Hall. When we open the door, I want nothing more than to shut it again and get away as far away as possible as quickly as possible. Kingsley shoots spell after spell at Pyrite but they don't do any good. Meanwhile, Pyrite is ripping the house tables and benches apart, throwing heavy object after heavy object at the Minister. Kingsley manages to dodge them all.

Finally, Pyrite grows impatient and he pulls his wand out from his cloak.

**Chapter 102:**

"EXPELLIARMUS!" I shout at once.

The wand Pyrite stole goes flying through the air.

Pyrite and Kingsley turn to see us standing there. Kingsley is looking proud of us, Pyrite looks furious and slightly shocked.

"You," he says dully. "How are you alive right now?" he asks.

"Magic," I say as I catch Pyrite's wand.

Pyrite glares at me for a split second, then he hurls one of the table legs at Kingsley, catching him across the face. Kingsley crumples to the ground and Pyrite lunges forward.

Carson is at my side in a second, conjuring another silver dagger. Pyrite catches the blade on his shoulder. He screams out several interesting profanities I've never heard before. He shoves Carson hard across the throat. Carson falls over backwards. Pyrite lifts him off his feet and hits him again and Carson goes flying across the room. A sudden crunching noise announces that Carson's wand is broken. Carson whimpers slightly and Lysandra screams.

I gag, the smell of blood suddenly strong in the air. When Carson had been thrown, his dagger had cut into his side. Carson places his hand against his wound for a moment. After a few seconds, he pulls his hand away, examining the blood. "I'm all right…" he groans, sounding anything but all right. "It's a shallow cut." His face is pale though. He tries to sit upright and ends up slumping against the wall.

Lysandra and I hurry forward, shouting stunning spells. I use the wand I took from Pyrite, so that's triple the power. Unfortunately, Pyrite dodges all our efforts. On the plus side, he's distracted from the lunch-like smell of Carson's gash. Another bad side is that Pyrite is now headed towards us.

Not wanting to leave Carson, but not knowing what else to do, Lysandra and I scurry out of the Great Hall and out into the Entrance Hall. We scramble up the staircase that leads to the first floor, Pyrite right at our heels. We get about halfway up when Pyrite throws himself forward, clutching Lysandra's robes. She shrieks and points her wand, "_INCENDIO_!"

Pyrite is engulfed in flames, he thrashes and loses his balance. He tumbles down the stairs. I raise the two wands and shout "_Stupefy_!" Pyrite lands in a heap in the Entrance Hall, still smoldering and completely unable to move.

"We're awesome," says Lysandra, her voice full of disbelief. After a slight pause where we get over our shock, we remember Carson and we start to bolt back down the stairs just at the Entrance doors burst open. The Hall floods with Vampires and Humans, the battle still raging on. One Vampire breaks free of the crowd and sees Pyrite lying on the floor. It's not Laurel or Ash. But their father… Cypress.

Cypress screams in rage and runs up to us on the stairs. He starts yelling in some language I don't understand and before I have time to act, he lifts me up by the shirt and throws me against the stairs.

Hard.

That last thing I'm aware of Lysandra's scream.

**Chapter 103:**

_Laurel pushes her way through the crowd, begging everyone to stop fighting. "Please. Don't do this!" She sounded pathetic even to herself. She had been relieved when she spotted her father a little way up ahead, but he had vanished as suddenly as he appeared. _

_"Father!" she calls, but her voice is drowned out in the din. She can't find her father, or Ash. She takes deep breaths, trying to keep calm and think clearly. She breaks free of the madness in time to see her father up ahead. He's standing halfway up an elegant stair case. He's holding up the boy, Ross, by the front of his shirt. Ross' head flails about and his legs dangle uselessly over the stairs. His girlfriend is up there, too. Lysandra. She's screaming and trying desperately to stop Cypress but her efforts are pointless. _

_Ross is already unconscious. But Cypress doesn't seem satisfied. He raises his fist and punches Ross in the face, breaking the boy's nose. Blood pours down Ross' face, but Cypress doesn't seem to notice. He shifts, his hands moving from Ross's robes to Ross' neck and Laurel suddenly realizes what her father is going to do. _

_NO! _

_She runs up the stairs screaming, "STOP! STOP!" She dashes forward in seconds, grabbing her father's elbows. "Don't! PLEASE! FATHER!"_

_Laurel's screams are so intense, everyone in the Entrance Hall stops fighting and turns their attention to the staircase. _

_Her father doesn't hear her. He lets Ross drop and Ross' head hits the stairs with a sickening crack. He picks up Ross by the collar, intending to drop him again. Another blow like that will surely kill him._

_ "FATHER! YOU CAN'T DO THIS!" Laurel lets out a sob. "Daddy…" _

_Cypress goes completely still. He blinks several times, looking from Ross to Laurel. He takes a deep breath. And suddenly, he looks extremely confused. Laurel realizes that whatever spell Pyrite had put on her father was now broken. "What happened?" he whispers. He looks horrified with himself. "Why? How…? Laurel, what are you doing here?" _

_"Pyrite was using magic to control you," Laurel explains. "He stole a wand from a human. I had to stop him before…" Laurel wipes tears from her eyes. "I failed, though." _

_"No you didn't," Cypress mummers. "You stopped me from doing something terrible. You saved this boy's life. And probably this girl's too." _

_He gestures to Lysandra who already fell to her knees trying to tend to Ross. _

_Cypress turned to the crowd at the bottom of the stairs. "War doesn't solve anything. Especially one that has been handled this way._

_"I fear there will always be mistrust between our races, but there are steps we can take to improve our relations. My first suggestion is that will all remain here and face the Ministry. We must take responsibilities for our actions, even those of us my son-in-law had to bewitch. I am confident that Kingsley Shacklebolt will see to it that we are dealt with fairly._

_"If we leave now and don't take responsibility for our actions, it'll lead to more mistrust and more violence. We cannot afford anymore of either. _

_"I will remain here and accept whatever my sentence might be. I hope that you will seriously consider doing so as well. If you run now and chose to save your own skin, know that you will only convince humans that we are the terrible creatures so many of them believe us to be. If you leave now… we may never be able to settle the difference between our races." _

_ Cypress sighs and stands there, tall and impressive. _

_Laurel turns to the crowd, hoping her father's words made an impact on the Vampires. And on the humans as well._


	29. Ch 104 to 106

**Chapter 104:**

I want to open my eyes, I want to sit upright. But I can't. My head feels like it's been filled with led. I can't remember how to make my eyelids open.

I hear voices, but they're all far away and speaking gibberish. I strain my ears, willing myself to discern meaning from the nonsense.

_Four days…_

_Doesn't wake up soon…_

_Saint Mungo's…_

I try rolling over, but it takes too much effort.

Something touches my forehead, pushing hair out of my face. "Ross, please..." This voice is much closer. It sounds distressed and hopeless. It makes me sad, too.

I want to reassure the voice, tell it that I'm all right and it doesn't have to worry about me anymore. I can't summon the words, though.

I feel a hand grasp mine, a hand so small it can only wrap around my fingers. "C'mon, Ross," pleads yet another voice. "Don't leave me alone with Rhys. I'm mad at you. You promised you'd visit me this year and you only came home at Christmas. Wake up so I can yell at you."

I still can't manage any words, but with a great deal of effort, I'm able to squeeze Rebekka's hand.

"HE MOVED!" she shrieks.

"Of course he moved," snaps Rhys' voice. "He's knocked out, not dead."

"He held my hand. He's going to wake up!" Rebekka insists.

"Don't get your hopes up," warns Rhys. He sounds tired.

I squeeze Rebekka's hand again.

She's smiling, I can tell, even though my eyes are still closed.

"I bet he wakes up within the next minute. Two Sickles on it."

I take a deep breath and finally will my eyes open. I'm in the hospital wing. "Pay up, Rhys," I say, trying to laugh. My voice sounds hoarse. I expect Rhys to yell at me but instead he runs forward and hugs me. "Finally!" is all he says. Rebekka's jumping up and down and hugging me as well.

"Ross IS ALIVE!" they shout. The yelling hurts my head a little, but I don't mind that much.

"PRAISE BE TO HEAVEN, AND ALL THE LITTLE LAMBS THAT FROLIC THE EARTH!"

I turn my head to the left and Ricia lying on the bed next to me. She's grinning broadly and has one of Lysandra's books grasped in her hands. On Ricia's other side is Tyson and on _his_ other side is Luke. All three are sitting up and looking well. Luke's even reading the paper.

"You guys are all right!" I'm so relieved.

"Not entirely," says Tyson, darkly.

**Chapter 105:**

"His left pinky's permanently paralyzed," Ricia explains in a whisper. "But considering he could have lost the use of his whole arm… I don't see what he's got to complain about. Boohoo, you won't be able to hold your English pinky out while you drink your English tea."

Tyson laughs and smiles at Ricia. She looks away, embarrassed but pleased.

"Anyway, that Ara took good care of us," Ricia informs me. "And then Madam Pomfrey fixed us up."

I stare at Ricia and Tyson, awkward but happy with stupid-looking smiles. And then I understand. The girl that Tyson mentioned liking and claiming he wasn't her type… Ricia had liked Tyson for awhile…

_Ah-ha. What else did I miss while I was unconscious? _

Thankfully, Ricia answers my unasked question. She explains that Laurel saved me from her father and broke the Imperious Curse Pyrite had put on him. Laurel's father made a speech to everyone, begging the Vampires to stay behind and accept responsibilities for their actions. A lot of them left in a hurry, but plenty did remain behind. Their actions were appreciated but unnecessary, however. Pyrite was the only one sentenced to Azkaban. He had a hell of a sentence.

"How's Carson?" I ask, suddenly remembering his wounds.

"He's fine," says Tyson stiffly. His tone suggests that he wishes Carson was otherwise.

Just a few days ago, I would have agreed. But after everything Carson did during the battle, I don't think I can ever hate him again. Too bad. "Carse Hole" was a really clever nickname, at least it is in my humble opinion.

"Madam Pomfrey fixed him up in a couple of minutes," adds Luke.

"What about Nick?" I panic when I suddenly remember that he was in the woods with Tyson, Ricia, and Luke.

"He was released yesterday." Ricia smiles, appreciating my concern.

"And Lysandra?"

"She's worried sick about you, but otherwise perfectly fine. Your parents, too," says Tyson, answering my next question before I can even ask it. "They dragged her out of here to get something to eat about half an hour ago. They'll probably be back soon."

I nod. I lie back in bed and stare up at the ceiling while my siblings bounce up and down excitedly. I don't know how long I stay like that but finally the door opens. I turn and see Lysandra and both my parents.

"Hey, 'bout time you showed up," I announce. "Some concerned parents. Not even here when I wake up."

Lysandra's suddenly at my side. She moved so quickly I almost thought that she Apparated. She throws her arms around me, her face presses into my shoulder. "Oh, thank God! Ross, I swear…" I can't make out the rest; her voice is too muffled.

Eventually, Lysandra releases me so my parents can fawn over me. After a lot of sappy "I'm-so-glad-you're-alive!" crap, Madam Pomfrey shoos them all away so she can give me a checkup.

I can't get out of here soon enough.

**Chapter 106:**

The day is torturous. I'm stuck in the hospital wing and Madam Pomfrey won't let me out for anything. It's not like I'm alone and bored. Tyson and Ricia are still in here too and we have visitors nearly every hour.

It's just I've been dying to talk to my parents about… well, that little conversation I had with Ara about being part Vampire and… adopted.

I'm not mad about it and nothing will really change. I just want to know the truth. Don't I deserve a little honesty after all the crap I've been through? However, that is hardly a conversation to have in front of Tyson and Reesh. Right now I'm passing time with Rebekka, scribbling on scrap bits of parchment with crayons. Lysandra's here, too. She's outlining various things, everything from landscapes, objects to random designs, and handing them over to Rebekka to color in. Meanwhile, I use art as means to vent my frustrations.

Translation: Lysandra's drawings are actually quite good and mine are crude but satirical, witty, and amusing to the well-trained eye.

"You've got another visitor, Warren," says Madam Pomfrey, distracting me from artwork.

I look up to see Neville standing in the doorway.

"Hey, we were starting to think you'd sleep until you were twenty-five!" he says, in a falsely bright way. "How are you feeling?"

"Eh," I say, going back to my sketch of a stick figure swinging from a tree.

Neville pulls up a nearby chair and sits next to us. "Yeah, I know what you mean." He sighs. "I've been there."

I shrug.

"I want to tell you that you'll get used to it," Neville continues as I fill in the leaves on the tree I'm drawing. "But I've been at it for years and I'm still not used to it yet. But it comes with the job description."

My head snaps up at the words. I finally look up and meet Neville's gaze.

"That's what I came here to tell you!" Neville's grin stretches across his face and is being with pride. "The Minister wanted me to inform you that we're going to accept you into the program. You start Auror training in July. The Minister reckons you're going to make one hell of an Auror and he said that he would be proud for you to work for him."

For the briefest of brief moments, I'm incredibly elated- this is what it's like to have your occupational dreams come true. And then just as quickly it comes crashing down as I remember Johan's mangled body, the way I got myself critically injured –twice!- and how much better Carson was at everything than I did.

I flop back onto the bed, spraying parchment and crayons everywhere. Rebekka yells indignantly and scrambles for her art supplies.

I sigh bitterly. "Please tell him that I'm incredibly honored but I have to decline…" I bit my lip and avoid Neville's and Lysandra's gazes. "I can't handle it."


	30. Ch 107 to 109

**Chapter 107:**

Neville raises his eyebrows but doesn't otherwise react. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely." I have never been more completely positive of anything in my entire life.

Neville nods. "Well… I'm sure he'll understand."

"I hope so," I mutter. "Now what am I going to do? I've been working to be an Auror for like, six years. Now I'm going to leave school and move into my parents' basement." Did I really just whine about that out loud?

Lysandra prods me in the shoulder with her index finger. "Don't be so melodramatic, Ross. You're qualified for a lot of different things."

"WASHING DISHES AT THE LEAKY CAULDRON!" Ricia yells from across the room. I roll my eyes.

"Or you could do something you're really good at," Lysandra offers. "Something you do all the time already."

"What, eat?"

Lysandra laughs. "I'm not sure about the last time I saw an ad for Professional Eater in _The Daily Prophet_. I was talking about teaching, Defense Against the Dark Arts specifically. You've already got practice doing that in Dumbledore's Army. You love it. And the students love you. Seems like a no brainer."

_Teaching… teaching. I like that idea! _I sit up slowly, never taking my eyes of Lysandra. If there was ever a moment where I was more tempted to blurt out, "I LOVE YOU!" I can't recall it. "You. Are. Brilliant…!" The moment I say the words, my heart sinks. "But they're not going to hire me right out of Hogwarts."

"Well you don't need to worry about right out of Hogwarts," announces a new voice.

FOR THE LOVE OF MERLIN! WILL PEOPLE PLEASE STOP RANDOMLY APPEARING! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO HEAL IF PEOPLE KEEP SNEAKING UP ON ME?!

Everyone turns to look. It's Ara. How she got passed Madam Pomfrey is anyone's guess. She's got a funny look on her face, like I can't tell if she's scowling or smiling. "I demand you work at my shop for the next whole year. Compensation for the Phoenix tears. I can't believe I used those on you and you go and get yourself beaten to a pulp." She shakes her head. "So I want you to come work in my shop for a year to repay me for my kindness. Or you can wander around Egypt, Indina, or China, climb some mountains, find yourself a Phoenix and then get it to cry. Whatever."

I decide that she's smiling, not scowling. No… smirking, more like.

"I'll come work for you," I promise. It should be interesting. I don't really fancy wandering around in Knockturn Alley. But I really like Ara. In a way.

I think.

Her smile turns genuine now. "You're going to love it.."

**Chapter 108:**

Finally, by the following evening, Tyson and Ricia have been discharged from the hospital wing and during dinner, it's just me and Dad. Everyone else, even my mum and Lysandra and Rhys and Rebekka, have gone down to the Great Hall to eat. Now's my chance to bring up the "A" word to my father. I think it's better that mom's not here. I don't think I could bring this up in front of her.

"Thanks for staying to eat with me," I say.

"Of course, kid. You won't have to be stuck here much longer. Madam Pomfrey was telling me that you should be ready to go back to classes on Monday."

Thank Merlin. I never thought I'd be so happy to hear about going to class but I am beyond ready to gain a little normalcy. _HULLO Ross! You're getting distracted!_

I take a deep, unsteady breath. I gulp. "Hey, Dad, there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about it."

"Sure thing, Ross," Dad says absent mindedly in between bites of dinner.

"I'm adopted, aren't I." It's not a question. I chew the inside of my cheek and wait with bated breath.

Dad burst out laughing. "What? No! Ha! What on God's earth gave you that idea?"

"I'm not adopted?" I repeat.

Dad shakes his head. "No."

"Then they switched me with the wrong baby at Saint Mungo's."

"You were born at your grandmother's house, Ross. I assure you. You are mine and your mother's biological child. If you want, I'll get a Pensive and show you my memory of you being born, would you like that?"

I blanch. "Um… no thank you."

"Good, it's settled then. What's brought this up?"

I stare. "Well… it's a really long story. But well, I've had quite a few people recently tell me that I'm… part Vampire?"

Dad looks like he wants to laugh again but something about the expression on my face stops him from doing so. "Are you… serious? Who told you that?"

"The first vampire who tried to beat the crap out of me said he could smell it in my blood. And that woman who was here earlier, Ara, she's part Vampire and she agrees that I am, too…"

"But how's that possible?" asks Dad who seems too forgotten all about food for the moment. "I mean… We're all Muggleborns! It must just be some kind of mistake."

It doesn't' seem likely. But whatever has happened, I guess I can believe that I really am my parents' kid. Suddenly, something clicks.

Note to self: Ask Hermione Granger to research my family's history.

**Chapter 109:**

After much pleading, swearing, and almost-blackmail, Madam Pomfrey finally releases me from the Hospital on Sunday afternoon. And finally, my family leaves and heads back home. I love them, but it was a little awkward to have my parents here at a boarding school.

As soon as they're gone and I have the hesitant okay from Madam Pomfrey, I run out of the hospital wing as fast as my legs can carry me. Which admittedly, is not very fast right now. I've been bedridden for so long that I have a little bit of trouble walking. I sway slightly and practically trip over my own feet but I don't care. It feels great to walk.

To my surprise, the moment I enter the common room, everyone turns to look at me. There's a few cheers and "Welcome backs!" It's not like a standing ovation or anything but it was still pretty cool. I smile a bit stupidly as Ricia and Nick make their way over to me.

I expect Ricia to dish out another rib-breaking hug, but instead she whacks my shoulder.

"Don't hit him!" yelps Nick. "He just got out of the hospital, don't send him right back! Merlin."

Ricia continues like Nick didn't interrupt her. "You idiot! You were supposed to be released tomorrow! We were going to have a party…"

I raise my eyebrows. "Really?" I put on a moronic expression and clutch my heart. "Why, that's so sweet. I don't know what to say!"

She hits me again but not quite as forcefully. "You're stupid. We even snuck into Hogsmeade and bought food and everything. We were going to have it up in the Room of Requirement."

"You could still have the party."

"It's no fun if it's not a surprise. I'll find something else to do with it, I guess."

"Where's Lysandra?" I ask. I've got to find her as soon as possible before I lose my resolve. After nearly dying twice, I decided it's time to tell Lysandra how I feel about her. It's just one of those things you decide to do after you've nearly died. I'm kind of nervous, though.

"She's out visiting your dad, I think…" says Ricia.

Nick nudges her. "She means Hagrid."

Ugh. I almost forgot about the "HB" nickname. "Can we stop the 'Hagrid's Bastard' nonsense?" I plead. "You met my dad…"

"Stepfather." Ricia leers at me then waltzes off, swinging her arms, and takes a seat by the fire next to Mariah to play cards.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" says Nick, sounding uncomfortable. "Go find the girl."

I smile awkwardly and turn right around, mentally preparing what I'm going to say to Lyssie.

It's gotta be perfect.

But no pressure, or anything.


	31. Ch 110 to 112

**Chapter 110:**

I have a bit of trouble walking down the final set of stairs that lead to the Entrance Hall. I get a little short of breath and I can't help but have flashbacks. My stomach turns over when I think about having to sleep tonight without Madam Pomfrey's sleeping potions. They had been blocking my dreams about Laurel. It was nice to have a break.

I feel a lot better once I'm out of the Castle and I think about how furious Madam Pomfrey would be if she found out I had gone outside. But it's not that cold for January. The wind actually feels kind of good. It clears my head and wakes me up.

I look out at the grounds, everything's buried under a few inches of snow- When did it snow?—and everything looks clean and peaceful. You can hardly tell there was a battle here a week ago. I hop down the front steps and make my way across the lawn.

I walk by the lake and notice Carson and Indina. It looks like Indina is teaching Carson to ice skate. He seems reluctant but Indina is holding his hands and keeping him steady. Neither one of them looks like they're having a good time, but Indina seems to be trying.

I wave and they both nod and manage smiles. I think they'll be okay.

"Oh, Ross! Hi!"

I turn and there's Lysandra running towards me. She's smiling. "I didn't know that you were being released today! I'd have come to see you!"

I hurry to close the distance between us. The words of my so called speech running through my head. it starts with "Can I talk to you for a moment?" and continues on with things like, "I want you to know that you're my best friend" and "You have a right to know the truth…"

Lysandra and are I finally standing in front of each other. She throws her arms around me, not quite able to reach my shoulders. "I'm so glad you're all right."

I hug her black with such enthusiasm I lift her off her feet.

She giggles a little as her feet dangle a solid foot off the ground.

….And that is the moment where I stupidly declare, "I love you!"

DAMN IT ROSS! WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PLAN?! You had WORDS! Beautiful, meaningful, eloquent words. Aw hell. I can't believe I ruined this.

Lysandra lets go of me and lands with a slight thud on the snow. She looks up at me, not quite smiling and extremely confused. "Ross? What… what do you mean?"

"I er… I mean exactly what it sounds like. I- I love you." I'm going to VOMIT!

"Like a sister?"

"No… not like a sister," I mutter. "I feel like a supreme arse. I'm gonna go… Bye."

I turn and bolt like Lysandra just announced she was planning to tar and feather me.

**Chapter 111:**

"Ross! Wait!" Lysandra pleads. "C'mon!"

I keep marching forward, feeling incredibly mortified. If embarrassment was toxic I would have just downed a lethal dose.

Lysandra has to all out run to try to match my longer strides. "Please! Ross! You can't just walk up to someone, announce that you love them and then walk away!"

Just as I am about to yell, "I'm an idiot, just forget I said anything" something strikes me in the back, under my shoulder blade. Hard.

"Ow! _DAMN IT_!" What the hell was that? I stop and turn around and finally notice one of Lysandra's black and white boots lying in the snow.

Lysandra's standing there about two yards away, her hands on her hips and her left boot missing. She leans heavily on her right leg, making sure her sock foot doesn't fall into the snow. It dangles a few centimeters above the ground.

Deciding it would be cruel to make her walk in the snow in her socks, I bend down, pick up the boot and walk over to her. Not meeting her gaze, I hand Lysandra her shoe.

She lets the shoe drop and grabs my hand instead. "Ross. Please," she begs.

"No!"

"Come on. Let's just talk."

"Let's not."

She glares at me and clutches at my hand, refusing to release me.

I want to pull out of her grip so badly, but I'm worried I might hurt her. So instead I just stand there like an idiot, avoiding her gaze by staring out at the grounds, watching smoke drift out of the chimney on Hagrid's hut.

"You wanted to know why I was weird earlier this year?" My breath escapes in a huff. "It's because I was jealous of Tyson. Jealous that you were going out with him… and not… me. Before we went off to fight, he explained you guys weren't really dating and that you had tried to tell me that. So long story short, I feel like a moron. And… I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings."

"Yeah, well… that's all well and good. Except for the fact that _I _was jealous of that girl you panting all over in fourth year and I _never_ avoided and ignored you," Lysandra spits.

I turn to her. "That's because at fourteen you were more mature than I am right now."

Her face twitches slightly into a smile. She sighs. "What brought this up now?" she asks.

**Chapter 112:**

"I don't know. I almost died twice last week and since third time's typically the charm, I wanted to make sure I told you that before I go to the Great Room of Requirement in the Sky." I smile painfully, awkwardly showing all my teeth and scrunching up my eyes.

I hear Lysandra laugh and I cautiously open one eye to see her smiling. "So what now?" she asks.

I swallow. "I don't know. I guess that it depends on how you feel about me."

It's Lysandra's turn to look away, her hair swinging in front of her face as she hangs her head. "I don't know." Her voice shakes. "I used to be absolutely mad about you. I'm sure you noticed."

I grin. "Actually, I didn't. Jenni had to explain it to me."

Lysandra carries on like I didn't say anything. "But I hadn't let myself feel anything about you in a really long time."

I sigh.

"And then this year, you were being such an idiot, I was positive that I finally got over you."

I hate myself! A lot!

"And then all of a sudden, there's a battle going on, and you nearly died… _twice_! And I was so panicked, I couldn't even think straight. Then when you finally woke up, I was so relieved, so happy… it felt like something beyond 'just' friends."

But….?

"But I want to make sure that what I feel right now isn't just from recent extreme emergencies and relief that you're all right. Could we try spending a bit of time together, just the two of us, no pressure?" she suggests. "Just until the end of school, and we'll see what happens?"

"Yeah. I guess. That sounds fair."

I hear Lys sigh with relief.

"So I can't kiss you?" I ask, knowing that this question is pressing my luck.

"No," Lysandra says, smirking. "At least not right now. I mean, come on, there's not even mistletoe or my sisters watching us."

She runs forward however, completely forgetting that she only has one boot on. Stunned, I manage to catch her and pull her off her feet again

"Your sisters might not be watching you, but we are!"

Still holding tight to Lysandra, I slowly turn around to notice Tyson, Luke, Ricia, and Nick's hanging out of the window.

Lysandra just laughs and hugs me tighter. I smile too; feeling like a weight's finally been lifted off my shoulders.

**A/N: Ack, just one more part left! D:**


	32. Epilogue and Afterward

**Epilogue: Five Months Later **

I check my watch. Damn, ten minutes to curfew. "We'll, I guess that's it," I say, feeling more melancholy than I would have ever thought possible. "Thank you all for indulging me in one last Dumbledore's Army meeting, even though classes are over. It really means…" I clear my throat. "A lot. It's been great working with you all. Now hurry up and go before you all get detention."

All the kids scramble out of the room, waving goodbye. For the last time. Oh dear Merlin, I'm finishing school and getting sappy. But still, this is a huge deal. It's my last night at Hogwarts. Tomorrow, I leave. Forever. Unless I do manage to get that teaching job here some day.

I try my best to wave and smile at everyone as the younger kids pass me and cheerfully tell me that they'll see me around. I fight back the urge to wail, "No you won't! I get on the train tomorrow for the last time and I won't be getting back on again September first!"

Eventually, everyone's left the room except for me and Lysandra.

"Want help cleaning up?" she asks, gesturing to all of the mess.

The meeting had been less about Defense Against the Darks and more about an End of Exams Celebration. This resulted in the room being scattered with left over snacks, and some of the younger students had conjured streamers and confetti that seemed to be everywhere in unlimited supply.

"Yes, thank you," I tell her. She sets off, vanishing all of the multicolored decorations. Every once in a while, we'll catch each other's eyes and smile. She smiles at me and starts vanishing the decorations while I pack up all the food. "You know, Ross, it's easier if you make the food just disappear," says Lysandra, who is suddenly at my side. How does she move like that? My eyes dart around the room, noticing that except for the food, it's spotless again.

"I'm not letting it go to waste!"

"You're going to _eat _all of it?" she sounds half horrified, half amused.

"No, I'm donating it to the House Elves," I tell her. Hey, Hogwarts legend has it that Ron Weasley's act of House Elf kindness led him to his wife Hermione. "They used to always feed me so I'm returning the favor before I leave."

Lysandra bites her thumbnail but smiles. "Aren't you're sweet." She doesn't sound sarcastic but you can never be too sure with Lysandra so I regard her with suspicion.

"Here…" Lysandra flicks her wand and produces a large rucksack. All of the food packs itself up into containers

I smile at her and ruffle her hair. No, we're not together now, if that's what you're wondering. But I think I'm kind of glad. The last few months have been really good for the two of us. We've been doing stuff like staying up and talking 'til three in the morning and lying out on the grounds watching the clouds or the stars. It's been nice.

"Can't believe this is the last time we'll be here," I say after the silence becomes suppressive.

"I'm sure you'll be back here, teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts and lecturing the importance of homework before you know it." Lysandra flashes me a smile.

"I WILL NEVER ASSIGN HOMEWORK!" I declare.

She laughs in the way that says, "Sure, Ross. Tell yourself that but you know I'm right."

We fall silent again until Lysandra asks, "What are you going to miss most?"

"Dumbledore's Army," I say quickly.

Lysandra grins. "You're lying! You can't lie to me, Ross. What is it really? Professor Slughorn? I _knew_ you fancied him!" She reaches up and pokes me in the shoulder.

I brush her hand away and turn my face, feeling awkward.

"Come on, I'm just going to keep bothering you until you tell me the truth."

I know that she's right, that she can always tell when I'm lying. And that she won't rest until she drags the honesty out of me. "Fine… It's you," I confess. "Not seeing you every day. That's what's worst about leaving school."

I finally turn to look at her.

"Oh, Ross. Don't be silly. We'll still each other all the time. The others, too. I promise."

"That's what everyone says. And you know what, that's usually the last time they see each other."

She pulls me into a hug. I expect her to tell me that I'm being stupid but she just says, "I won't let that happen."

I glance down and see her there, smiling and looking a little nervous. She's not looking at me; her eyes are directed upwards.

I follow her gaze and notice something peculiar, considering that Christmas has long since passed.

Mistletoe.

I'm almost tempted to laugh, but I don't want to ruin the moment. Overwhelmingly glad that no one is watching this time, head spinning, I finally kiss her. It's so much better now than when were kids. I guess that's a sign that growing up isn't always such a bad thing.

Only time will tell.

**Afterward**

After I finished Hogwarts, I had to give back the Marauder's Map. Which, I guess wouldn't do me much good out of Hogwarts, but damn, George had to pry it from my fingers to give it back.

On a more positive note, my dreams about Laurel had faded away completely by the time I finished. I did go on to work in Ara's shop for two years.

I added another year to my one-year sentence because I asked Ara to find Laurel's niece and use Phoenix tears to heal her. Laurel and her sister were so grateful, it made every extra moment of the second year worth it. When I finally repaid my debt, I celebrated by proposing to Lysandra. She said she would accept as long as I got a new job. She wasn't marrying some unemployed idiot.

I went to work for Hermione Granger at the Ministry, under the Department and Control for Magical Creatures in an effort to help fight off Anti-Vampire discrimination. Lysandra went on to work in the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes. She always has great work stories.

Tyson and Ricia also got married. As Lysandra told me, we did manage to keep in touch with them, as well as Luke and Nick.

While I was at the Ministry, Lysandra and I finally got married and Hermione dug up some interesting records. It turns out that even though _I_ wasn't adopted, my_ father_ was. And one of his biological parents was half Vampire! It made sense that it wasn't just me. Dad shared my hatred for garlic. Rhys always burned easily in the sun and I always thought Rebekka's eyes reflected the light in the dark.

While I worked for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, I would occasionally see Carson Hale who also worked in the same department. However, he had become a Vampire hunter. He was fair though. Always making sure that whomever he hunted had actually killed someone.

It's kind of funny that neither one of us became an Auror. I don't think we'll ever be friends, but we don't hate each other anymore.

He also started dating Indina Joyce, much to the envy of nearly every man we knew at Hogwarts. Although I don't know if they're still together or not. I haven't seen him in a few years.

I also saw Laurel and her father quite a bit, both had become ambassadors of sorts and would often come to the Ministry to offer updates on the local Vampires.

Lysandra and I also have a daughter named Kyara and a son named Cory.

I stayed in the Ministry until I was thirty when I finally got a letter from Hogwarts School of Witch Craft and Wizardry, inquiring if I might like to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. Professor Stone was retiring.

I accepted and I've been teaching here ever since.

And well, that's the end of my story. Unless you want to stick around for the part where I die? But that's not really a good way to end a story now is it? And now I put down my quill and pass the parchment over to my younger brother, Rhys. Unfortunately for you, he's got his own story to tell.

The End


End file.
